“City have been unmatched in recent years,” Joleon Lescott believes the recent dip in form will give Manchester City a “boot up the backside” to get back to HOT form

Joleon Lescott highlights how other teams have intercepted City's gameplan.

“City have been unmatched in recent years,” Joleon Lescott believes the recent dip in form will give Manchester City a “boot up the backside” to get back to HOT form

Joleon Lescott (Source: England NT)

Former Manchester City player Joleon Lescott was critical of his side in a recent podcast where he shared that the recent results ‘shocked‘ him. Lescott won the Premier League twice with the Treble winners. He was surprised to see them lose three out of their last four games.

He mentioned how Arsenal had taken last season’s defeat against the Citizens very seriously. They effectively revolved their entire transfer strategy around defeating them. He also talked about their loss to Newcastle United. The shock exit early in the competition was unjustified, given the club’s stature.

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“They’ve always been a half-bogey team for City,” he remarked about Wolves known to give a tough time to Pep Guardiola’s team. However, he further said that the recent disappointing result will only be another reason for a team like City to bounce back even more. “City has been unmatched in recent years.” he also appreciated their dominance in England and Europe now as the crown Champions of the Champions League.

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“You have to try and maintain those levels,” he also highlighted how it would be a significantly stricter job coming out of a treble-winning season to try and live up to the exact expectations. He then highlighted how big of an achievement City made last season. Which he thinks will take more years in footballing terms to be adequately appreciated.

Talking about the much-awaited next encounters of Man City, football in general is followed by hundreds of millions of fans, with most of them betting on the results of matches that happen almost throughout the year. The volume of online betting means gambling and casino platforms have also incorporated sports betting into their offerings, and modern-day online casino games are often promoted on sports betting sites and use betting on football as a funnel to attract more customers. 

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Joleon Lescott predicts Erling Haaland’s slow form

Erling Haaland’s phenomenal debut season in the Premier League left fans in awe, with the Manchester City sensation netting an astonishing 36 goals. He set a new record for a 38-game season. However, former City defender Joleon Lescott cautions against expecting the young star to continue breaking records in the coming seasons.

Joleon Lescott and Erling Haaland
Joleon Lescott and Erling Haaland (Source: SkySports)

Lescott believes that Haaland’s remarkable talent has already left an indelible mark. It would be unrealistic to anticipate record-breaking performances every year. Instead, Lescott sees Haaland as poised to become iconic for the Premier League and Manchester City. He challenges defenders to adapt their strategies to contain his extraordinary abilities as he continues to grace the English top flight.


After City’s recent run of form, it’s almost diabolical how accurate Lescott has been in his prediction of the slump faced by Erling Haaland. The striker will be looking to improve upon his performance amidst harsh criticism.

If we talk about the last season for the champion team, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City secured a historic treble, including a maiden Champions League title, in the 2022/23 season.

On the domestic front, the Citizens secured the Premier League title on May 20 after Nottingham Forest beat Arsenal 1-0, and they defeated their local rivals at Wembley Stadium on June 3 to win the FA Cup.

In Europe, they reached only their second Champions League final in their history after destroying Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the semifinals.

There had been a lot of pressure put on Guardiola as the Spaniard had previously failed to win Europe’s top honour with City. Star striker Erling Haaland also stated that his goal was to win the Champions League with the club.

If we talk about them making a mark before like this, it came in during the 2018/19 season, Guardiola led Man City to the Premier League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup domestic treble. It was the first time in the club’s history that they won three trophies in one season (four, if you include the Community Shield). The title race went down to the wire as they beat Liverpool to the league by just one point. They kept their nerve on the final day to win 4-1 away to Brighton, ending the season on 98 points.

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