In the past, Michael Owen has been teased for some of his, let's just say, interesting suggestions when it comes to football. But on this occasion, he made a prediction barely anyone saw coming.
Ahead of this season's Premier League opener, many presumed defending champions Manchester City would go on and challenge for the title following a campaign that featured just three defeats.
However, after a relatively strong start to proceedings, Pep Guardiola's side have endured a miserable run of late. In fact, they have lost nine of their last 12 games, winning just once.
City once again struggled on Saturday afternoon as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa, who secured a well-deserved three points thanks to goals from Jhon Duran and Moran Rogers.
Advert
And after the full-time whistle, some comments made by Michael Owen resurfaced.
The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester United striker was speaking to Casino Hawks on August 16th when he said Manchester City would struggle to finish in the top four this season.
“Arsenal and Manchester City will go in virtually everybody’s top four predictions and I think Liverpool will probably be in there as well despite there being some questions over how well Arne Slot will fit in," he said.
“I had a thought about Newcastle but Aston Villa are solid and look to be still improving. In terms of the order, my thought process is if City are not gonna win it, they could actually drop away a little bit.
“It’s almost like if City are not gonna be really in the race after 10 games then their priority could go elsewhere – I think there could be a big surprise this season. I’m going to go for Arsenal first, Liverpool second, Aston Villa third and Manchester City fourth.”
Owen added: “The title is Manchester City’s to lose, but I think they could slip up this year. They have really put their foot down when they have needed to and went on an incredible run last year, but at some point they’re going to fall short.
“When other challengers get stronger and wiser it’ll get tougher for them and I wouldn’t rule out that being this season. They’ve also got the investigation hanging over them and Pep Guardiola is not going to be there forever. This could be his last season.
“There’s always things that test you throughout the season and they’ve navigated that so far, but something might knock them off the rail this season. With Arsenal being so good last season and with no signs of them going away with more signings coming in, they are viable challengers again.”
Thoughts on City's form this season? What's going wrong for Guardiola's men? Let us know in the comments.
Topics: Michael Owen, Premier League, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal
Jack Kenmare