England’s second or better known as the Championship is one of the most dramatic and unpredictable leagues in the world. But it’s also a time when the best football in the world is guaranteed to be played. What else is promised? Drama. It is guaranteed to be happening from August to May, at both ends of the table. Half of the teams enter the championship every season with the goal of getting into the top 6, and later the place that leads to the Premier League.
During the season we see a mountain of incredible matches, reversals, and fantastic goals and the Championship has accustomed us to incredible scenes over the years.
Let us be reminded that the season in the top five leagues hasn’t started as early as it did last summer, in a very long time. Football in the biggest leagues across Europe started in the first half of August, and the main reason for this is that November and December were the periods of breaks, due to the World Cup. As it started in August last year with some changes compared to last season, we did not see Burnley, Watford, and Norwich in the league this season.
One can say that the football frenzy started with the League, lasted all the way through the World Cup, and has continued until spring. Bookmakers are all about streaming live events, offering tempting betting options, and testing the knowledge of football lovers with questions like will Manchester City be able to win the league or not. According to Asianbookie Bandar Bola this is the question keeping everyone on their toes.
Realistically, what are the chances? Let’s take a look…
Man City is defending its title and is chasing its third consecutive trophy in the Premier League. How will Pep Guardiola’s team fare this season? With four League titles in the last five years, the team has set the standard in the English league and they are the team everyone wants to beat. The largest opponent of them all.
Pep Guardiola has done a tremendous job since taking over the club from the Etihad Stadium, building one of the most dominant teams in the history of English football. Rightful favorites for the title at odds of 1.61, City will be hard to stop as they look to become only the second club to win three consecutive titles.
While rivals Manchester United have achieved the feat twice, City is arguably the best team in League history in terms of standard. It will be business as usual for City as the defending League champions attempt to make it five titles in six years. It doesn’t matter who comes and who goes – this City squad is terrifying and fans should just sit back and admire the quality on display at the Etihad Stadium.
Kevin de Bruyne is the best player in the Premier League, and the rest of the team is not bad either, because everyone contributes to City staying at the top of world football. While the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, and Fernandinho have all left the club, City is unlikely to be adversely affected – they are strong in every position on the pitch.
What kind of reinforcement could Erling Haaland be? Just imagine how many goals Haaland will score in City’s attack. The thought of that is quite terrifying and enough to scare opposing fans. In addition, City replaced Fernandinho with England international Calvin Phillips. The former Leeds player looks like a typical signing and Pep will surely get the best out of him.
With Oleksandr Zinchencko completing his £30 million move to Arsenal, City will now open the door to the signing of Marco Cucurella.
With 99 goals scored, 26 goals conceded and 93 points collected from a possible 114 in the 2021/22 season, it is difficult to pinpoint a specific area of progress for Manchester City. Citizens had excellent results against the ‘big six’ – they picked up more points in matches against their rivals than anyone else (20 out of a possible 30). We’re backing City to win the title this season by at least five points.
How did the previous season go?
There was drama over second place, fought between three teams, but in the end, Bournemouth emerged victorious from that battle. Scott Parker clinched his second promotion to the League and further enhanced his managerial CV.
The two best stories of the season are Huddersfield Town and Luton Town. They finished third and sixth and qualified for the playoffs when none of them expected it. Huddersfield managed to reach the final of the playoffs, but they were stopped there by Nottingham Forest.
Carlos Corberan and Nathan Jones did a fantastic job. The story of Luton is phenomenal. They were relegated from the second league to the fifth about 10 years ago, so they managed to return from the fifth to the second in a few seasons and come within a step of the Premier League. Both teams were far from the top the season before last – Huddersfield in 20th place and Luton in 12th place! That’s why this success is incredible.
Last season showed us that if you change the manager in time and have the right man for the job, you can turn the season around in just a few months (Tottenham and Newcastle are the best examples of this, so read our Premier League season preview). Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, and Middlesbrough all changed managers at a time when they were in poor form and even worse in the table. They brought in managers who know what they are doing and completely transformed the season.
Will this League continue to be as dramatic and exciting? You bet! As we said, it’s all about drama, which makes this League a place where the best, and the most exciting football is being played.
