Pep Guardiola says Man City will be ‘trembling’ when they play one team this season, it’s surprised everyone

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed the one team that will leave his side trembling during the 2024/25 season, and it isn’t who you would expect.

City got their defence of their Premier League title off to a good start last weekend as they defeated Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in their first match of the 2024/25 season.

Ahead of the season, Guardiola previewed which Premier League sides he expects to push Manchester City as they aim to extend their record of consecutive titles to five.

While doing so, the Catalonian manager named one side which he and his team fear playing this season, but it isn’t a team that you might expect.

Speaking to Men in Blazers, Guardiola said: “Newcastle will be back because it’s one game a week. They don’t have European competition and the energy they play with, the physicality, with just one game a week. When we play against them, we will be trembling.”

Amid a series of high profile injuries, Newcastle United struggled last season in the Premier League, finishing the season in seventh and therefore failing to qualify for any of the European competitions.

With that in mind, Guardiola believes that they will be one of the most formidable teams that City will face this season as they will typically only have one match a week while teams competing in Europe will have two.

And it looks as though his assessment was correct as the Geordie club got their season off to a good start by beating newly-promoted side Southampton 1-0, despite going down to 10 men early in the match.

Joelinton scored the winning goal in Newcastle’s 1-0 victory in their Premier League opening match against Southampton. (Image: Getty)

But Newcastle aren’t the only team that Guardiola is worried about this season, as he went on to name several other sides that he expects to contest City at the top of the Premier League table.

He added: “Arsenal 10/10. Tottenham will be there for the way they play. Liverpool, we’ll see, pre-season for Arne Slot has been amazing. United and Chelsea with a lot of signs. Aston Villa, we’ll see how they handle playing in the Champions League. Six or seven teams will be there, it will be difficult.”