On the opening weekend of the Premier League season, Manchester City would have enjoyed their position as interested bystanders. 

They saw their neighbours Manchester United stumble to an unconvincing win over Spurs, Chelsea drop two points at home to Swansea and, on Sunday, Arsenal suffer a surprising and traumatic defeat to West Ham at the Emirates.

Now it is City’s turn to finally enter the fray when they face West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Monday night.

Which version of Manuel Pellegrini’s City side will take the field in the West Midlands and emerge throughout the new season?

The free-scoring and cavalier version that won the title in 2014, or the more timid and porous version that finished in Chelsea’s wake last season?

Recent history has shown City are better suited to pursuing a title than defending it, and the expectation is that they will return a hungrier side.

And yet there has also been a curious malaise lingering around the Etihad stadium this summer

Pellegrini deserves more respect after delivering a title and a runners-up finish in his first two seasons in England, but he continues to be undermined by mounting speculation that he is merely being kept on as a stopgap before Pep Guardiola’s arrival.

Can a squad of players ever truly be at their best when they might believe their manager is leaving soon?

The most pressing concern for City is they are entering the new season with the same defence that destabilised their title challenge in the last campaign.

As City midfielder Fernandinho admitted to the Guardian, “The biggest thing to improve is defensively. The attacking part of the team is very strong, so it’s about improving consistency in defence.”

Last season, City conceded 38 goals, six more than the champions Chelsea and the most of any side in the top four—and even five more than Southampton, who finished seventh.

At this stage, City have so far not sought to reinforce their defence for the new season.

The hope is that Eliaquim Mangala will have learned from his largely underwhelming first season in the Premier League and begin to perform like a £42 million defender.

But City remain vulnerable to every creak and niggle in Vincent Kompany’s increasingly fragile frame, and they always look a very different team without their captain.

Any Kompany absences leaves City with the unconvincing central defensive partnership of Mangala and Martin Demichelis.

At the other end of the pitch, City boast Sergio Aguero, a striker each of their rivals covets for his pace, movement and goalscoring ability. If he stays fit, City could become champions again, but again, any injury could see them miss out.  

Only a year ago, City had an enviable stable of four proven strikers, but Alvaro Negredo is now at Valencia, Stevan Jovetic on loan at Inter Milan and Edin Dzeko could be days away from signing for AS Roma.

It leaves City dangerously short of strikers, with just Wilfried Bony as a partner or alternative to Aguero, and the former Swansea man has made a tentative start to life at the Etihad with just two goals in his first 12 appearances for the club.

As well as those departing strikers, City’s squad has lost some of its bulk with the sales of James Milner, Micah Richards, Matilja Nastasic, Dedryck Boyata and Frank Lampard, who chipped in with a crucial eight goals last season.

For all of City’s wealth, it seems almost perverse to suggest they might lack the strength in depth to regain the title, but weaknesses remain.

However, the one area of the side that should give City real grounds for optimism this season is their midfield.  

Bolstered by the signings of Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Patrick Roberts, the City midfield now boasts an even more impressive balance of grit and creativity. This remains the powerbase of their team.

The trusted talents of David Silva, Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Fernandinho know how to navigate a Premier League season and win a title.

And for all the incredulity over his inflated transfer fee of £49 million, and the discomfort at the manner in which he leveraged himself out of Liverpool, it should not be forgotten that Sterling is a wonderful and rare talent.

Blessed with pace and a real understanding of the game, and having now relocated to a club where he now feels loved and wanted, Sterling could light up this season.

City have now finished in the top three for each of the last five seasons and should do so again this season, but the constant undermining of their manager, an over-reliance on Kompany and Aguero and their diminished stable of strikers means it is likely to be in second or third position, not as champions.

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