Tag: Manchester City

2026 World Cup Power Rankings: The 5 most important players to their country’s success
7Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

2026 World Cup Power Rankings: The 5 most important players to their country’s success

As the 2026 World Cup qualifying matches rage on, it's time to continue our early preview of next year's tournament in North America by narrowing our focus from the key teams to the key individuals that could shape the latest chapter of international football. Although we don't yet know the final field of the 2026 World Cup - and it looks like there are some giants who may not even make it to that point - the most important players to their countries are still going to be pivotal in these qualifying stages. So let's rank the top five players based on their importance to their team's qualification efforts and eventual hopes of World Cup success. Since it's too easy to pick the one star player at a smaller country and because one player can't pull everyone up to success (look at Mohame...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The 6 most important midfield anchors in 2025/26
7Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The 6 most important midfield anchors in 2025/26

Although most of the attention in world football goes to the goal-scorers and the playmakers who grace the highlight reels and pile up the counting statistics, more appreciation has been given to defensive midfielders in recent years. Players like Aurelien Tchouameni and Declan Rice are going for massive transfer fees, others like Rodri and Ryan Gravenberch are winning or have been in contention for prestigious awards, and even fantasy football has increased the attention on and appreciation for the humble No. 6. These players are often vital to the success of their teams, and there's a reason why all the Big Six clubs in the Premier League have been pushing so hard for top defensive midfield talent. Here are the six most important midfield anchors to their respective Premier Leag...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The top 5 GKs to start the 2025/26 season
6Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The top 5 GKs to start the 2025/26 season

A month of Premier League action has come and gone, so now it is time to take stock of the 2025/26 season through the first three matches and hand out some honors to players who are starting the season very brightly. Goalkeepers are easy to overlook, but the Premier League is chock full of top shot-stoppers right now, including quite a few new faces in new places. With three Matchdays in the books, let's rank the top five goalkeepers to start the season, basing it solely on their performances in the current campaign. 5. James Trafford, Manchester City James Trafford won't be starting in goal for Manchester City for long after the addition of Champions League winner Gianluigi Donnarumma from PSG, as the Italian international is regarded as one of the top three players in the world in h...
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Premier League Predictions: Every Big Six club’s biggest problem in 2025/26
5Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Premier League Predictions: Every Big Six club’s biggest problem in 2025/26

With the first month of the 2025/26 Premier League season in the books, the big clubs in the English top flight are figuring out how their new-look squads are taking shape, especially after finalizing deadline day transfers on Sept. 1. Over the international break, managers around the Premier League will be busy tweaking their tactics in response to what they saw over the first three matchdays of the campaign Here is the biggest problem every Big Six club in the Premier League needs to address during the 2025/26 season, based on a combination of preconceived notions before the campaign began and what transpired across the first three fixtures. Manchester United Ruben Amorim's rigid marriage to his 3-4-3 system has been well-documented, though the Portuguese manager has shown signs ...
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Premier League Power Rankings: The 10 best strikers for the 2025/26 season
4Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: The 10 best strikers for the 2025/26 season

Now that the summer 2025 transfer window has come to a close, every Premier League club knows who their starting striker is, and there has been a huge influx of talent into the league's top teams at the striker position. That isn't surprising, and it is a response to virtually all the top teams in England having a major need up top, with fans lamenting the comparative lack of striker quality in the Premier League - and world football as a whole - since the 2000s. How do the new faces stack up against the established starters in the Premier League? Who gets snubbed? Which newcomers still have a point to prove before they can be ranked highly? Here are the top 10 strikers in the Premier League for the 2025/26 season as we come out of a very busy summer transfer market. 10. Liam Del...
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Champions League Predictions: 5 clubs at greatest risk of facing complete turmoil in 2025/26 season
3Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Champions League Predictions: 5 clubs at greatest risk of facing complete turmoil in 2025/26 season

The 2025/26 Champions League campaign will officially begin in a matter of weeks with the league phase, as the summer 2025 transfer window has been wrapped up and sealed with a bow. Most of the big players in the Champions League, like Liverpool and Real Madrid, were also major buyers on the transfer market, as superstars like Alexander Isak and Trent Alexander-Arnold moved around this summer window. The Premier League's Big Six, in particular, were big spenders, proving the notion that the Super League is really just the biggest clubs in the Premier League isn't just a prognostication for the future; it's already rapidly happening in front of us. But as teams head into the 2025/26 season with boatloads of optimism, there is reason for trepidation among some of European football's...
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Premier League Power Rankings: Predicting the Top 5 after Transfer Deadline Day 2025
1Sep By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: Predicting the Top 5 after Transfer Deadline Day 2025

The 2025 summer transfer window is now officially done and dusted, and there weren't all that many major deals made on deadline day in the Premier League - and two of them were already expected. After signing Alexander Isak from Newcastle the day before deadline day, Liverpool sealed their other expected dream signing, bagging superstar center back Marc Guehi from FA Cup winners Crystal Palace to become not just the Premier League title favorites but also Champions League title favorites. Meanwhile, Chelsea sealed the transfer of Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich after recalling Marc Guiu from his loan at Sunderland to replace him, while London rivals Tottenham added depth at the striker position with the loan acquisition of PSG's Randal Kolo Muani. And finally, Manchester City wra...
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Champions League Power Rankings: The 10 best managers for the 2025/26 season
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Power Rankings: The 10 best managers for the 2025/26 season

The 2025/26 Champions League draw for the league phase is set, with the matches to begin next month in mid-September, and it's anyone's guess as to how this year's tournament will ultimately play out. Obviously, the players are the one who play the game, but the spotlight has become increasingly focused on the manager, and there's no one style that makes someone successful in the Champions League. Carlo Ancelotti won two of the last four Champions League titles on chaos, Pep Guardiola won one on structure while embracing the virtues of a free-scoring No. 9 in Erling Haaland, and Luis Enrique finally brought the big one to Paris by embracing a more team-oriented playing style without Kylian Mbappe. It's not easy ranking managers at baseline, but ranking them from different leagues ...
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Champions League Power Rankings: The top 12 strikers before the 2025/26 season
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Champions League Power Rankings: The top 12 strikers before the 2025/26 season

There isn't a single position on the football pitch that receives as much attention as the striker position, It is the marquee position, because there's a school of thought that every great team needs a great player who can finish off the goals. Although Real Madrid have won a Champions League title in recent years without a true No. 9 and Manchester City have won the Premier League without one, those are exceptions to the rule. Because Real Madrid have also dropped Champions League titles without a true top goal-scorer, while Manchester City only became Champions League winners after they added Erling Haaland, a record-breaking striker. Ahead of the 2025/26 Champions League season, which will officially begin next month with the league phase, let's do an intial power ranking of t...
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Premier League Power Rankings: Every Big 6 defense from worst to first in 2025/26
29Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Premier League Power Rankings: Every Big 6 defense from worst to first in 2025/26

I'm not sure how much the American football saying "defense wins championships" holds true in world football, but it seems pretty appropriate when you look at the difference between teams that were and were not successful in the title races last season. For example, Napoli won Serie A against the odds over one of the best striker tandems in European football in Inter Milan with only Romelu Lukaku as a true standout forward. And they did so because they were so organized defensively and structurally under Antonio Conte. In the Premier League, Manchester City fell out of the Premier League title race entirely because their defense was no longer a stalwart engine, as they clearly suffered from Rodri's torn ACL. Liverpool and Arsenal, meanwhile, had the best defenses in the league. So...
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