City show they are the real deal

It may only be the second week of the season but the clash between Manchester City and Liverpool told us a lot about where the two clubs are at.

City's meteoric rise from mid-table battlers to genuine title contenders has coincided with Liverpool's decline and the clash at Eastlands looked every bit like a matchup between two sides going in opposite directions.

City looked slick, exciting and inventive, while Liverpool looked sluggish and lacking in ideas. The online football betting suggests the Merseysiders could struggle this year.

It may not have been too difficult considering the money he has had available but Roberto Mancini has assembled an exciting front line of Adam Johnson, Carlos Tevez and James Milner, all of whom can play with either foot and so bamboozle defenders with their movement.

Behind them the defensive wall of Nigel De Jong, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure is a formidable looking wall and one that will ensure clean sheets a plenty for Joe Hart this year.

Liverpool, meanwhile, continued their stuttering form from last season. Too reliant on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, who were successfully harried out of the game, as well as missing the suspended Joe Cole, they lacked ideas and never really looked like getting back into the game once City took the lead. The Premier League title odds now suggest they are in with a real chance of glory.

With a week to go before the transfer window closes Reds boss Roy Hodgson needs to find some creativity from somewhere to ease the burden on his star pair, with the expected departure of Javier Mascherano set to fund any move.
City have no such problems, with both first choice full backs unavailable, the like of Shay Given, Emmanuel Adebayor and David Silva on the bench and Mario Boletelli unavailable, they still strolled to victory - Mancini has a wealth of riches to choose from.

In fact things are so good owner Sheikh Mansour even turned up for his first City game. If their performance in this game is anything to go by it won't be long before he returns.