How Manchester City's closest challengers can close the gap this season

Manchester City has been the dominant force in English football recently and clinched another Premier League title last season. However, Pep Guardiola’s team did not have it all their own way, and a few teams chased them hard until the end of the season. This will leave City’s closest title rivals confident that they can challenge them again for the crown in 2024/25.

Below, we discuss which teams have the best chances of closing the gap and how they can prepare to take City on over another 38-game campaign:

Arsenal, Liverpool and Villa are primary challengers for Manchester City

A quick look at last season’s EPL table shows that Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa were Man City’s closest challengers. It’s reasonable to think they might be ready to mount another title bid in 2024/25 if they can close the gap with City.

This is also backed up by the latest odds given by bookmakers for EPL winners in the coming season, where Arsenal and Liverpool are considered to be second and third favorites across the board. To bet more safely on one of these betting odds, you can use a promo code and place your bet at one of the best sportsbooks that offers Premier League futures. 

Arsenal

Arsenal has been the closest challenger to Pep Guardiola’s men over the last two seasons and this shows that they don’t have too much work to do in order to close any gap.

Perhaps the one area which needs the most attention for the Gunners is signing a top-class striker. With elite talents such as Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres rumored to be of interest, they already seem to have this in hand.

To really push Manchester City in 2024/25, Arsenal also needs to hang onto their best players. Coach Mikel Arteta must learn from what went wrong in the last two seasons and help his players find that extra mental toughness so they can cope when the pressure ramps up.

Liverpool

Liverpool finished third in the 2023/24 season and will be keen to close in on City. Much of this will come down to how they cope with the end of the Jürgen Klopp era and how well their new coach Arne Slot settles in.

One thing in his favor is his reputation for developing players and encouraging young talent. If Slot can continue to bring the likes of Jarell Quansah, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajčetić through, then Liverpool might be able to use their energy to close the gap.

Fending off interest in their star man Mo Salah might also be key to catching Manchester City next season. Slot will also need players who have underperformed somewhat last year, such as Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz, to step up to the plate.

Aston Villa

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa was the surprise package of 2023/24 in the EPL and did very well to finish fourth. If they want to try for the title in 2024/25, they will need to get used to the pressure this entails.

In addition, Emery’s men must also quickly get used to a busier schedule, which now includes Champions League football and the usual league and cup matches.

Key to this will be adding more depth and quality to the squad. This will allow Emery to rotate players when needed without impacting the results. The signs are positive in this area already, with Samuel Illing-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea arriving in summer 2024. In particular, Barrenechea will be key to filling the huge hole left by the departure of Douglas Luiz to Juventus.

Can City be caught in the EPL next season?

This is the big question for football fans and anyone who follows the Premier League. Manchester City looked good again last year and will no doubt be growing stronger in key area themselves this summer. This should mean the title race in 2024/25 is closer than ever.

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