In recent years, Manchester City really have become a force to be reckoned with in English football. There was a time when, under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United were pretty much nailed on to win the title, but a new era may have begun. Manchester City may just have become the team that always wins the league, even when they don’t seem to play well and could really be on the top of everyone’s soccer predictions list.

The premier league has become wide open since the downfall of Manchester United, making soccer predictions very hard to come by. Their dominance is no more and this has left the others to fight for the title. Last season, it was first of all Arsenal who were thought of as the favourites for the Premier League title early on. Inevitably, their lack of experience in those situations fell and they were knocked off the perch by Liverpool, who were the next target of people’s soccer predictions of who they thought would win the league.

Last season everybody ranted and raved about Liverpool. Their fast paced, high adrenaline football created a mist around the club that made everybody think they would run away with the league title. For all the world, it looked like they would, until, inevitably, they blew up. A soccer prediction was easy mid-season as Liverpool went through a record 11 wins on the bounce. Liverpool simply didn’t have that cutting edge, killer instinct when it came to winning the league. When Liverpool failed to get the job done, Manchester City were there.

The other major competitor was Chelsea. Chelsea were everybody’s soccer prediction to win the league from the start. People fell for Jose Mourinho’s arrogant bravado and thought that this excellent squad of players would be the ones to life the trophy, especially when they beat Liverpool towards the end of the season. While people were speculating Chelsea and Liverpool, Manchester City were quietly racking up points and before anyone knew it, they were in the driving seat.

That is why you can simply never count out Manchester City when it comes to winning the Premier league, not just this year but for years to come. They are a sensible soccer prediction. The owner’s immense riches will no doubt keep a constant supply of world-class players coming into the club and now, they have the experience of winning league titles.

Evian TG FC news:

Crash No 2. After the defeat 3-0 to Caen, there was another emphatic one 6-2 away against Rennes. They started to chase the score from the 6th minute. Although they scored the equalizer in the 35′ they conceded two goals before the end of halftime. In the second part they simply crumbled and could not assert anything from the game.

An exception to the general very bad image of the team was striker Wass who scored both goals in the 35′ and 83′.

Coach Dupraz completely disappointed after the second heartbreaking appearance said: “I’m angry and I feel shame. We must get out of this situation as soon as possible. “

Paris Saint Germain news:

More concentrated than the premiere against Reims, they left no room for reaction to Bastia and won easily at home (2-0).

Scorers were Lucas (26’) and Cavani (57’), with a black spot Ibrahimovic’s injury in the first quarter of the match.

However, the future of the latter is doubtful in Paris.

The match was marred by the incident Brandao-Motta in the locker room, while the midfielder of Paris is doubtful for the game against Evian because of the hit he received.

Bayern Munich news:

FC Bayern Munich have enormous injury and fitness worries over a number of players after a long World Cup.

Coach Pep Guardiola has lost a key player for his plan (Javi Martínez) and it remains to be seen how the team will deal with three left-footed players at the back.

Kicking off the new campionship, Bayern want to compete for the treble once again, which will not be an easy target given the recent circumstances.

Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thiago are injured and with Toni Kroos having left the team as well, Sebastian Rode could grab a chance to start next to Philipp Lahm in central midfield.

Wolfsburg news:

Wolfsburg wants to compete for a top-4 finish once more this term and strengthened the club in several areas.

The basic problem is still the absence of a top-class striker, though. It remains to be seen if Nicklas Bendtner can somehow fill this void.

Josuha Guilavogui, Luiz Gustavo and Junior Malanda compete for two spots in defensive midfield.

New transcriptions Hunt and Vierinha compete for a position on the right wing, while Ivan Perisic is out due to injury.

Sport Recife news:

The home game against Atletico Paranaense was balanced, with many mistakes in midfield.

Sport Recife were taken aback and were back at the score in 25′ but they were fortunate enough to equalize before the end of the first half. In the second half they created a few chances but the final draw (1-1) is fair.

For a third consecutive game the team of Eduardo Baptista failed to convince with their performance and remains without a win this time.

Palmeiras news:

A former player of Palmeiras hurt them, the striker Alan Kardec, who scored the winning goal at Sao Paulo in 89′. They had equalized with a penalty in 60 min, but were unable to leave with a good result, in a match in which they lost due to injury midfielder Valdivia in 20′.

They have completed nine games without a win and remain without a three-pointer from the time the team was taken by Ricardo Gareca.

“For everyone there is a limit,” said the coach, who is likely to leave. A critical week with his family pushing him to return to Argentina, but with president of the club supporting him fully.

Santos news:

They complain rightly for offside in Cruzeiro’s first goal (25′). Generally they were lower than the circumstances at “Mineirao”, where they conceded two more goals in the 48′ and 88′, in a match in which they created chances but they were not effective.

It was the third consecutive defeat in the league for Alvaro de Oliveira’s club, who at this time have failed to score.

Victory is the aim against Atletico Paranaense, otherwise the coach will be under very heavy pressure.

Atletico Paranaense news:

They appeared upbeat at Recife and were preceded to Sport Recife in 25′, but as time was passing they were retreating.

They conceded the equalizer in 40′, while in the second half the fact that they kept the score 1-1 is because of the goalkeeper Weverton.

Undefeated in a second consecutive game the Doriva’s team, which runs, plays without pressure and takes advantage of its young players, they have managed to remain relatively high in the standings.

Napoli news:

They want to be present for the second consecutive season in the groups of the competition. Rafa Benitez continues to be on the bench. They have kept their basic scheme.

The most important loss is the one of the midfielder Behrami (Hamburger) while the addition is the striker Michu (Swansea). There are more players added to the roster such as the goalkeeper Andujar from Catania, the stopper Koulibaly from Genk, the midfielder Donadel from Verona, while Gargano and Vargas returned from Parma and Valencia correspondingly. The last one is very close to QPR, while almost sure is the transfer of Goran Pandev.

There is grumbling from the fans because of the reluctance of president De Laurentiis to spend money on transfers. Today, however, it is expected to announce the acquisition of midfielder De Guzman from Villarreal for 6.5 million Euros, while Fellaini’s transfer will only proceed if Napoli qualifies to the groups of Champions League.
In their last friendly they lost 2-1 in “San Paolo” to Paris Saint Germain. Earlier, they won Barcelona 1-0, Paok 2-0, Benfica 2-1, Braga 3-1, Galatasaray 3-1, drawn 2-2 to Arsenal and finally lost 3-1 to Porto.
“It would not be a tragedy if we lose. Today’s game is crucial both for the administration and our fans. We have to face Bilbao with no stress. If we play like against Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, we can win any opponent. We respect the Basques. Valverde is an excellent coach and it has proven that so far. Bilbao is a group of players playing together for many years. It is important not to concede goal and to score at least one, “said Rafa Benitez. He also added that Gonzalo Higuain is going to start normally, although he is not 100% ready because he is one of the players who can change a match with one move.

Midfielder Zuniga, the stopper Henrique and midfielder Dzemaili are not available for the current match. The last one goes to AC Milan. Napoli will play with the classic 4-2-3-1, with Higuain on top of the attacking line and Insigne, Hamsik, Callejon to move from behind.

Athletic Club news:

They were the pleasant surprise of last year’s Spanish league. They led the informal race after the first triad – Atletico, Barcelona, Real – absolutely fair and secured their presence in the playoffs of the Champions League. They soon found a good pace, played smoothly and made some big wins, while they entered the new “San Mames” in September.
Valverde continues on the bench for the second season and has as his main objective “to play even more beautiful football” as he says characteristically.

In transfer market they lost their talented and important midfielder Ander Herrera (Manchester United), earning 36 million euros.
Some players who were on loan returned and some others came from the second team. The only normal transfer is Borja Viguera from Alaves, top scorer last year in Segunda Division with 25 goals. They are expected to move for Monreal (defender, Arsenal) and Illarramendi (midfielder, Real), only if they get the ticket for the Champions League groups.
“We face the two games with a lot of optimism and responsibility. I know Benitez has studied and is preparing well for the match. The truth is that the two teams have nothing to hide” Ernesto Valverde said inter alia.

St Etienne news:

The “Stephanais” showed the same things as last year’s team. Totally cynical, they had control over midfield, they hypnotized their opponent and brought the game exactly where they wanted.

Low pace and not many chances, they scored just before halftime with a penalty of Erding (was won by Hamouma).

Same play for the next 45 minutes of the match. With relative ease they faced the pressure received and they managed to score again in the 92′ with the same player.

The French-Turkish striker is in excellent condition and continues scoring this year.

Reims news:

To get a draw against PARIS SAINT GERMAIN is by itself a huge success.

They were worse than their wealthy opponents and found themselves been back in the score early. They were spared a penalty and managed with 100% accuracy in the chances created to score two goals (22′ Oniangue, 34′ Devaux).

They upheld unsustainable pressure as long as the minutes were passing and got drawn.

They saved a goal just over the goal line and eventually they got the one point with great difficulty.

Nimes news:

They failed to double their victories in an informal rematch of the premiere of the league against Angers  and lost  2-1. They were found early back to the score. They found the strength to equalize within minutes with Nouri (10 ‘), but they could not complete the overthrow.

In a balanced game, they created good chances for a second goal but they did not made it.

It seemed that they were not entirely concentrated in the competition as it was obvious from the statements of the coach Pasqualetti, “We’re going for the win, but we must definitely avoid the extra-time in order to be ready for Dijon on Friday.”

Dijon news:

The movements of the coach Dall’Oglio gave the qualification against Tours.

They were down 2-0 until the coach changed the attacking duo and passed Diony and Babit in the match. Within 5 minutes they had brought the match in balance.

At 65′ the first one closed the gap while the second equalized at 71’. The match went into force thereafter (both teams received a red card).

Qualification came out on penalties with the goalkeeper Reynet saving the match for his team for one more time (2-4 the final score from the white dot).