What are Manchester City’s chances of winning the treble this season?

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After Manchester City’s 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea, many fans were left wondering why Manuel Pellegrini chose such an inexperienced squad against a strong, yet out of form, Chelsea side.

Pellegrini’s men are still in the running for silverware this season. They are through to the Capital One Cup final, and into the last 16 of the Champions League and currently six points behind the leaders Leicester City in the Premier League.

The Citizens are far from favourites in the Champions League as they face a tough tie against Dynamo Kiev. With Chelsea showing that English clubs are struggling in Europe, after their 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint Germain, City cannot afford to slip up in their domestic competitions as they could finish the season with nothing after a positive start.

The current Premier League season has been one of the most exciting to date throwing up countless shocks. City find themselves clinging onto title hopes as they are six points behind Leicester and four points behind London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham, with all three of the aforementioned teams finding consistency in recent weeks.

Consistency is something City are finding difficult recently as they have lost their last three matches, two of which were in the Premier League against Leicester and Spurs  – their main title rivals. The Citizens need to pick up points against the teams at the top of the table in order to keep their title dream alive.

It is no secret that defence has been a massive problem for Pellegrini this season as Vincent Kompany has been plagued by injuries leaving him out of a lot of matches. With Mangala and Demichelis proving a poor partnership at the back, City are a far weaker side without the Belgian international.

If their back four could be as consistent as their attacking force, then there is no question that they would be top of the league fighting off their rivals instead of chasing them.

Pellegrini has the luxury of Sergio Aguero in the squad, who is possibly the best striker in the Premier League and one of the best in the world. The Argentine’s strike rate is exceptional, having scored 18 goals in 24 matches this season for City.

Without a solid defence, goal scoring becomes almost irrelevant, as a team will concede as many as they score.

City will have to play out of their skin in Europe despite being drawn against one of the lesser clubs still involved in the competition. Teams like Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG will find ways to break down a defence as weak as theirs, so change is required.

Pellegrini’s side have a tough set of fixtures coming up including an away trip to Kiev, the Capital One Cup final against Liverpool and Premier League fixtures against Chelsea, Liverpool and bitter rivals Manchester United.

City will surely look back on the season come May and question whether or not the club should have taken more interest in the FA Cup, with them being outsiders in both the Champions League and Premier League.

If they come away with the Capital One Cup then this will surely not be enough for a club with the calibre, squad and expectations of Manchester City.

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