Sky Sports will show 64 live Premier League games when season resumes; 25 matches available on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel
Friday 3 July 2020 18:35, UK
The Premier League is back - but what shape are Manchester City in for the season restart?
Ahead of the Premier League's return on June 17, we run the rule over Pep Guardiola's side, from fixtures and fitness to the manager's view and more.
Will their Premier League form improve? Or will their focus switch to the cup competitions?
Sky Sports' Nick Wright:
It has been a deeply disappointing Premier League campaign for the reigning champions. Manchester City are 11 points worse off than at the same stage of the 2018/19 campaign and, more significantly, they are 25 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool.
Their hopes of defending the title were effectively over long before the lockdown came into force and they now have the threat of a European ban looming over them too. These are testing times for the Etihad Stadium outfit, but there is still plenty for Guardiola's men to play for.
If they can find form when the season resumes, they could yet finish the campaign with a Champions League trophy and an FA Cup to add to the Carabao Cup they won in March. They will be desperate to end an often difficult season on a high. The opportunity is there to do it.
After beating Arsenal live on Sky Sports, City are due to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on June 25 and Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on July 2, by which time the Premier League title could already be decided.
Aside from those fixtures, however, Guardiola's side have what looks like one of the easiest run-ins in the division. In fact, the average position of their remaining opponents is 12.1, meaning only Manchester United have easier fixtures on paper.
Man City vs Arsenal
Kick-Off: 8pm; Live on Sky Sports
Man City vs Burnley
Kick-Off: 8.15pm; Live on Sky Sports
Chelsea vs Man City
Kick-Off: 8.15pm
Man City vs Liverpool
Kick-Off: 8.15pm; Live on Sky Sports
Southampton v Man City
Kick-Off: 7pm
Man City vs Newcastle
Kick-Off: 6pm
Brighton vs Man City
Kick-Off: 8pm; Live on Sky Sports
Man City vs Bournemouth
Watford vs Man City
Man City vs Norwich
Manchester City sit 25 points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool and it will take an unprecedented collapse for the title to end up anywhere other than Anfield, but it is still mathematically possible for Guardiola's side to finish top.
As the below graphic from Experimental361 shows, it is also mathematically possible for City to slip into the bottom half, as implausible as that might seem.
City's appeal against their two-year ban from European competition begins at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
The club will miss out on the prestige of playing in the Champions League for the next two seasons, as well estimated revenues of £200m, unless they are able to convince three judges in the three-day video conference hearing that they have not broken UEFA's financial fair play rules.
A decision is expected before this season's Champions League is scheduled to restart in August.
City's Champions League ban is not due to come into force until next season, meaning this year they still have a chance having beaten Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the Bernabeu in February.
With Premier League glory surely out of reach and that European ban looming, this year's Champions League is certain to be the main focus for a side who are yet to taste continental success under Guardiola.
The Catalan will also be keen to continue City's progress in the FA Cup. They are due to face Newcastle in the quarter-finals having beaten Sheffield Wednesday in the previous round.
The Premier League title race is all but over, but having already won the Community Shield and Carabao Cup, City's involvement in the Champions League and FA Cup means they could yet finish the season with four trophies.
City appear to have a clean bill of health ahead of the Premier League restart. Aymeric Laporte is fit again having overcome a hamstring problem suffered before the lockdown. Leroy Sane is also available having recovered from the knee problem which has kept him sidelined all season.
City will be itching to secure three points against Arsenal having suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to Manchester United in their last game before the Premier League was suspended. Guardiola's side were in patchy form and have only won three of their last six Premier League games having also lost to Tottenham and drawn with Crystal Palace.
Guardiola has largely kept his counsel during the lockdown, but he did speak to the Manchester City website at the end of last month to say how pleased he was with the fitness of his players upon their return to training.
"Really good," he said when asked about the physical condition of his squad. "I think they were looking forward to coming back and to train again and do what they like.
"They came back perfectly. We follow the rules, the protocol. We have to. That's the most important thing. We don't do anything special.
"The special ones are the doctors, nurses, scientists, cleaners - they put their own lives at risk to save ours. When it's a special situation around the world, you have to adapt."
As we have seen with the Bundesliga, some teams have just not got going after the restart. Schalke have lost all four since the break, scoring just once and conceding 10. You might think this could not happen to City, but you never know, and with Arsenal visiting the Etihad first on June 17, they could get off to the worst possible start.
City are currently 12 points ahead of Manchester United in fifth, but 50/1 is certainly value, which is then reflected in the unexpected nature of the situation which may unfold.
Manchester City to finish outside the top four - 50/1 with Sky Bet
Sky Sports are broadcasting 64 live Premier League games for the 2019/20 season resumption. In addition to the 39 matches already scheduled to be broadcast exclusively live on Sky Sports before the coronavirus interruption, 25 more matches are being broadcast on both Sky Sports Premier League and Sky's free-to-air Pick channel, allowing the whole nation to be part of the return of live sport.
To celebrate the return of the Premier League, Sky Sports have also launched a host of innovative new features and updates to give fans an even more immersive experience and share the moments live with family and friends on virtual platforms.
