After a rare off-season at Etihad Stadium last year where Guardiola's side ended up trophyless, City are back in business in the 2025-26 campaign and are ready to give a tough fight to Arteta's Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
Former Gunners and City striker Paul Dickov recently backed Guardiola to win silverware once again this season, telling Best Betting Bonuses: "I keep saying I don't want to get too far ahead, I'll get too carried away with the recent performances. But there's just something within the club and on the pitch that is near the levels they were at when they were at their best. I know for a fact that there's a hunger, not just from Pep, but from the staff, the players. They were hurt last season. They were really hurt and there's a big drive within the club to put that right this season. And they were quite happy going under the radar a little bit earlier on in the season, but the performance against Liverpool has given everybody hope and they can still get better. It wouldn’t surprise me if Manchester City are up there winning things at the end of the season again because I think the strength and depth, the quality, it’s up there with the very best.
"The one thing Pep's got is a lot of credit in the bank with the City fans and one bad season last season out of all the time he's been here isn't a bad thing. I think the fans realise that, and City fans obviously are very passionate, but they're good football people as well. They understand that it's probably the third rebuild since Pep came in, with the new signings. They'll be patient with them. At times, they’ve lost this season and it hasn’t always looked great, and people were already declaring them out of the title race. But I think that if City can be in and around Arsenal by January, February time, then that's their time. That's when they know to really kick on. They still have players like Rodri to come back. I think they're going to wrap him up in cotton wool for the next few weeks just to make sure that by the second half of the season, he's ready to go."