Manchester City’s goal for the 2025/26 campaign will be to regain their Premier League crown.
Last season was a disaster for Pep Guardiola’s side as they went from winning four Premier League titles in a row to needing to secure Champions League football on the final day of the term, in addition to going the entire campaign without winning a major trophy.
Big changes have taken place at Man City over the summer to make sure this doesn’t happen again, with the arrival of Sverre Nypan this week taking the Manchester club’s number of signings for the summer to five.
Kolo Toure was the latest of three new coaches to be added to Guardiola’s staff, and former Luton Town star Tom Lockyer is expecting the legendary coach to come back with ” a vengeance” during the upcoming campaign.
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Tom Lockyer thinks Pep Guardiola is hurting
Guardiola would not have been happy with how Man City’s 24/25 campaign went, as the Manchester club put up a weak attempt at defending their Premier League title.
The pundit thinks Liverpool are the clear favourites to win the English top flight again, having strengthened significantly over recent weeks, but the former defender believes Man City will be their closest challengers.
“I think Man City, I think Pep is hurting, and you know he will respond,” Lockyer said on talkSPORT when asked who will challenge Liverpool for the 2025 Premier League title.
“A little wounded animal who is ready to attack, and he’s a born winner. He’s a born winner, and he will not have enjoyed last season, and I can see him coming back with a vengeance.”
Man City missed out on Florian Wirtz to Liverpool this summer, while Milos Kerkez opted to move to Anfield over Manchester ahead of the new season, which shows how highly Guardiola rated the Reds’ new additions.
They could play a big role in Liverpool winning the league again; however, Lockyer thinks Erling Haaland will be back to his best over the next 12 months and has tipped the Norwegian to win the Golden Boot.
Erling Haaland picked over Alexander Isak to win the Premier League Golden Boot
Last season was the worst of Haaland’s three seasons at Man City as the striker struggled for form and had to deal with injuries.
However, having won the Golden Boot during his first two Premier League campaigns, Lockyer has told talkSPORT that he expects the 24-year-old to regain his crown.
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Minutes |
| Erling Haaland | 48 | 34 | 5 | 4041 |
| Alexander Isak | 42 | 27 | 6 | 3324 |
“Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it’s hard to see past him. It is really hard to see past him,” the pundit said. “I know we mentioned Isak if he joins Liverpool, maybe. I can’t see him doing it at Newcastle. So yeah, I will lock Haaland in, I think he will.”
Haaland returning to his best will be critical if Man City are to finish above Liverpool this season, as the Norwegian will need to make up for the other weaknesses in Guardiola’s team.
