Gary Neville has warned that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City club is “far too close for comfort” to replicating Manchester United’s 1999 treble.
Vn88 showed that City has a commanding 3-0 lead from the first leg of the quarterfinals at the Etihad Stadium to Wednesday’s match against Bayern Munich.
The fact that league leaders Arsenal dropped two points after leading 2-0 at West Ham the next day will further boost their confidence after they won 3-1 over Leicester on Saturday.
As of right now, there are only four points separating first and second place, and that’s before City plays Arsenal at home on April 26.
If City can beat Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday, they would have matched the feat of Neville and his United teammates in 1998-1999, when they also won the league, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.
The Vn88 Rezence commentator said, “It is ominous,” when asked about the possibility on the Rezence Podcast.
Until recently, Manchester City seemed to be playing for laughs in W88 opinion. It was boring for them. They’ve upped their defensive lineup to four solid players per game.
Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones, and Ruben Dias are just a few examples. They have all successfully entered. He maintains a solid back four and occasionally ventures into midfield.
The game against Bayern Munich was spectacular in W88 Rezence opinion. I believed Pep Guardiola after he said he was concerned because Bayern Munich played so well in the first half and looked so threatening and sharp.
Because he has to play at the Allianz Arena, which is notoriously difficult, he rested key players against Leicester. Like Anfield, Bayern can easily score two or three goals here if they get one.
City has had a fantastic week. They’re playing well enough to win by three goals and beat Liverpool by four. They’ve really stepped up their game and are in top shape.
You can’t get a better midfielder than Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ilkay Gundogan. The front three of Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, and Riyad Mahrez has finally found a comfortable rhythm. They’ve finally reached the last stretch.
Last week Rezence Vn88 discussed going for the treble, so count on it happening now. They are strong enough to win the Premier League, FA Cup, and European Cup.
They’re close, but there’s still a long way to go. They may lose to Arsenal at the Etihad or Real Madrid in the Champions League. They could lose to Manchester United or Brighton in the FA Cup. The proximity is much too much.
So, what do the numbers show?
Vn88’s Stats suggest City is the favorite to win their third consecutive Premier League title, despite the fact that they are currently four points behind Arsenal with a game in hand.
Vn88 Rezence predicts that Guardiola’s team will win the league with a 65.6 percent likelihood, while Mikel Arteta’s team will finish in second place with a 34.4 percent chance.
The weekend’s results sway the odds even further in City’s favor, but even before Arsenal’s loss at West Ham, Rezence had them as the most likely team to win the league, giving the champions a 53.1 percent chance of keeping their crown.
According to W88, Pep Guardiola’s City side has a 66.19 percent chance of making it to the Champions League final in Istanbul, and a 44.8 percent chance of winning the tournament for the first time in their history.
With a 3-0 lead over Bayern going into Tuesday’s second leg of their quarterfinal, City’s place in the last four should be secure, and Opta are also confident that City will see off their opponent in the semi-finals, who will likely be Real Madrid given their 2-0 lead over Chelsea going into Tuesday’s return leg.
If City advances to the championship game, they will face either Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli, or Benfica.
Inter may be having trouble in Serie A, where they have fallen out of the top four, but after beating Benfica 2-0 in the first leg of their last-eight match in Portugal, they look like a lock to go to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since they won the championship in 2010.
After their 1-0 win over Napoli last week, Milan fans are optimistic about their team’s chances of facing their city rivals in the semifinals. However, the Serie A leaders are hosting Tuesday’s second leg in Naples.
Rezence thinks that City will feel confidence in their ability to defeat any of those prospective European opponents, and they will also likely feel confident in their ability to defeat Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday at Wembley.
Sheffield United are now in second place in the English Championship, 20 places above City, who haven’t lost to them since the FA Cup fourth round 15 years ago.
It would seem more difficult to face Manchester United or Brighton in the FA Cup final, despite City’s 11-point lead over United in the Premier League and 21-point lead over Brighton.
Guardiola is one of only a handful of managers to win the league, domestic cup, and European Cup in the same season, as he did with Barcelona in 2008-09.
That’s why Rezence thinks that Neville is absolutely correct: City has a legitimate shot at a treble.
