Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes Man City are only in contention for the Premier League title because of Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian has been in phenomenal form this campaign, but Merson claims that if the striker was absent, Pep Guardiola’s side would struggle to even qualify for the Champions League:
“I don’t think they’re taking it easy. I don’t think they’re a top team at the moment. I watched the Everton game against Man City on Saturday, if you swapped Beto – and no disrespect to Beto – for Haaland, Everton would’ve won the game more easily than what Man City won it. And that was the difference. And that’s quite worrying.”
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“Players get older, players get changed, Kevin De Bruyne’s gone. [Phil] Foden hasn’t hit the heights of a couple of years ago. [Bernardo] Silva’s getting a little bit older. It all goes from there. They’re still in the title race because of Haaland. But you take Haaland out of the equation and then I’d struggle to think they would get in the top four.”
Man City are over-reliant on Haaland
Merson is not completely wrong. Even Guardiola has remarked that the Cityzens should not need to rely on their No.9 to secure them the three points every week.
Following the 2-0 win over Villarreal, he expressed his delight that another player had managed to get on the scoresheet.
However, that doesn’t mean that they are a one-man team as Merson suggests. You need world-class players to win trophies. Where would Liverpool have been without Mo Salah last season? It really isn’t a premise worth mulling over.
Are City genuine title contenders?
If you look at the form of Guardiola’s team this calendar year, you have to say that they should be considered challengers.
In the last 28 league games, they have picked up 56 points. Only Arsenal have collected more (57). It remains to be seen whether they can continue in that vein for the rest of the 2025/26 campaign.
Read more about the Man City First Team Squad for 2025/26 here