‘The team to beat’ – Former England striker back Man City to retain their league crown

Former England striker Jermaine Defoe has backed Manchester City to retain their league crown this term despite highlighting their lack of an out-and-out No.9.

Manchester City are his favorite to win the league after a comfortable 4-1 victory at Brighton on Saturday in which England star Phil Foden stole the show with two goals.

City defeat on the opening day to Tottenham has been the only league loss Pep Guardiola’s men have suffered so far and they currently sit just two points behind title rivals and current leaders Chelsea, and one point behind Liverpool.

Liverpool and Chelsea’s early season form is also adding weight to their claim as being two of City’s biggest threats. But Defoe views Manchester City as the ‘team to beat’ in the Premier League and the favourites for the title.

“Watching people saying they [Manchester City] don’t have a number nine – they played with a false nine all of last season, without a proper number nine, [Sergio] Aguero didn’t play and they won the league,” the former England international was quoted as saying by the Metro.

“For me, I still feel like they are the team to beat, with the options that they’ve got, the quality that they’ve got, bringing in Jack Grealish – [Raheem] Sterling doesn’t even start! And the know-how, they know how to do it.

“I know Liverpool are looking good, and the front three are frightening – I think the front three of [Roberto] Firmino, [Mohamed] Salah and [Sadio] Mane are back to where they were before – but I still think that Man City are the team to beat.”

Although we’re still early into the campaign, City, Chelsea and Liverpool are already starting to lead the way.

Howerver according to The Telegraph, Manchester City are 10/11 to retain the title this season, ahead of Liverpool at 5/2 and Chelsea at 11/4.