The Betfair Contrarian: Why Manchester City will win the Premier League

The Contrarian explains why we'll be seeing this scene again

The Betfair Contrarian tells us why we all should be backing Manchester City to retain their Premier League crown...

The leaves are barely off the trees and yet great swathes of Manchester City doubters are writing off the champions' chances of retaining their title. Of course, the Contrarian is not being hoodwinked by such mass cowardice and is keen to take advantage of such anti-Mancinism and get behind City to 3.3512/5 to deliver.

The evidence to support another sky blue-moon come May is stacking up faster than Tesco's shelves in preparation for Christmas.

It's November and the champs are still unbeaten

The last two teams to make it to fireworks night without losing went on to claim the Premier League trophy; City themselves last season and bitter rivals Manchester United in 2010/11. Even if City's campaign has occasionally lacked sparkle, Roberto Mancini's troops are showing no signs of surrender, particularly evident in recent comebacks on the road at the Hawthorns and Craven Cottage. The longer a streak such as this can be extended, the greater the desire to protect it becomes, something City are well versed in, having made it to December 12 before tasting defeat last season.

City have improved against teams which troubled them last year

Even though City became conquerors of England there was a sprinkling of sides which managed to upset the diamond-encrusted applecart. This year however, City have already managed to improve on last season's results at West Brom and Fulham on the road - converting draws into victories - while they have also overcome Swansea, one of only five teams to take all three points off them last season. In fact, of the eight corresponding fixtures from their title wining campaign played to date, only a home draw with Arsenal has witnessed any regression.

European football is likely to vanish from the fixture list

Much of the negativity aimed at City derives from their stuttering campaign in Europe. While it is evident Mancini is yet to concoct the correct Champions League formula, the "Group of Death" was always going to deliver a high-class casualty. In light of their loss to Ajax, this fate is looking increasingly likely to befall the English side, which in turn should massively increase City's chances of retaining their Premier League crown. Last season City's similarly premature exit and subsequent disinterest in playing in the Europa League culminated in a focused drive for the championship - they lost just one of their last 11 league games after limping out to Sporting Lisbon. Both Borussia Dortmund and Juventus went on to glean the benefits of an early Champions League exit last season by claiming their respective domestic titles. Collecting the Group D wooden spoon and avoiding the Europa League altogether would be a real Brucy Bonus for City.

Chelsea getting ahead of themselves again

Aside from the most unusual of seasons last time around, Chelsea have generally followed a familiar pattern in recent times. Akin to a pacesetter in a long distance event, the Blues have made sure the leading pack makes an early break only to fall away when the real racing begins and the spring burn kicks in. Both in 2008/09 and 2010/11 the Londoners enjoyed a dazzling early season spell before suffering burnout.

They have the players and the dosh

Whether Mancini plays a 3-5-2, 4-4-2, or a 1-2-7 the quality of personnel the Italian has to bring in to every position is still the most enviable in the league. The fact that Edin Dzeko, one of Europe's very best strikers, is currently keeping one of the world's finest in Sergio Aguero out of the team, is perhaps the most salient example of the incredible depth of this squad. And in the unlikely event Mancini feels he needs reinforcements come January, the chequebook is always within reach.