All world Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne says it will be nearly impossible for his team to win a quartet of trophies this season. “The goal is not to win the four, it is to win every game,” De Bruyne told a news conference today ahead of tomorrow night’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash at FC Schalke.
“You cannot set the standards to win four trophies. We are happy where we are – we want to progress in every competition we play in. To win all four, that is nearly impossible.”
City have very favorable odds in all four of the individual competitions (UCL, Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup), but winning one is a completely different world entirely from winning all four.
Accomplishing a treble is rarified air, and if they can do that, it would be an extremely historical season. First things first though of course, let’s take a look at who City manager Pep Guardiola may select in the first team to take to the pitch in Germany tomorrow night.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction at FC Schalke UCL Round of 16
Forwards: Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling
Midfielders: Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan
Defenders: Danilo Aymeric Laporte John Stones Kyle Walker
Goalkeeper: Ederson
Manchester City at FC Schalke FYIs
Kick-off: Wednesday February 20, Veltins Arena, 8pm (BST), 2pm (CST)
MCFC Injury Report: go to this link
Odds via Betfair: Manchester City 1/4, Draw 5/1, FC Schalke 10/1
Google Result Probability: Manchester City win 74%, Draw 16%, FC Schalke win 10%
Form Guide: Schalke: LWLDWD Man City: WWWLWW
Pep Guardiola press conference video: go to this link
Prediction: Manchester City 3, FC Schalke 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.