Title race will be a thriller

The City kit boss and former Latics star writes every week for Chron Sport

I THINK the events of the weekend give weight to the theory that five or six teams have a chance of winning the Barclays Premier League title this season.

My team, Manchester City, went down 3-2 at Aston Villa despite leading twice, and Manchester United lost 2-1 at home to West Brom, while Chelsea only drew at new-look Tottenham Hotspur.

Throw in-form Arsenal and rejuvenated Liverpool into the mix and it could easily be the most open and unpredictable campaign in years.

Our defeat at Villa Park was undoubtedly disappointing, not least because we were so comfortable in the first half and regained control after their first equaliser.

I suppose the only comfort we can take is that their first goal looked about a yard offside and the second was a world class free-kick.

With time running out and trailing 3-2 we would obviously have settled for rescuing a point, especially

considering the events at Old Trafford, but it wasn’t to be.

I suppose when you look at the Premier League at the moment the three pre-season favourites – ourselves, United and Chelsea – all have new managers and things are still falling into place.

It’s a long season ahead with lots of twists and turns and the first side to join Arsenal in finding consistency will probably stand the best chance.

Defeat wasn’t the ideal way to prepare for facing the champions of Europe, but everyone is determined to bounce back with a positive result against Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow night.

Even though I have been around the block I still get a buzz out of these kind of fixtures.

The visiting side are jam-packed with world class players.

The likes of Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are a joy to watch and we also welcome back two former Blues in the form of Jerome Boateng and Daniel van Buyten. It promises to be a cracking game and a brilliant atmosphere.

My old boss Roberto Mancini is back in work I noticed yesterday, signing a three-year contract to take over at Turkish champions Galatasaray. I’ll watch how that one goes with interest.