4 days to Premier League season: Manchester City covet Champions League title

• More: Richard Jolly's predictions | Fixtures in UAE time

The National's sports team is counting down the days until defending champions Leicester City take on newly promoted Hull City in the opening fixture of the 2016/17 English Premier League season by looking at one team a day. Today, Manchester City.

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The worst kept secret in football – that Pep Guardiola was leaving Bayern Munich for Manchester City – was confirmed in January and coincided with a team riding high at the top of the table crawling over the line to finish fourth.

Guardiola’s brand of football is the envy of most teams – possession of the ball is sacred, while defensively haranguing any opposition with the temerity to take it. A squad littered with world-class players has only been enhanced with the addition of Ilkay Gundogan and Nolito to add even more attacking thrust to a team that already boasts the talents of David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.

City will no doubt mount a more sustained Premier League challenge this season, but it’s the Uefa Champions League the club’s owners and supporters covet most. Guardiola has won it twice with Barcelona, but fell at the semi-final hurdle three seasons in a row with Bayern Munich. Does he still possess the tactical nous to unlock the best teams?

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Previously

• Hull City: Promoted club had unstable summer

• Middlesbrough: Hopes lie largely in Spaniards

• Burnley: Third time the charm?

• Sunderland: Moyes the make-or-break factor in survival hopes

• Bournemouth: Well placed to avoid 'second season syndrome'

• Crystal Palace: Time to deliver on all that talent

• West Bromwich Albion: Another season of mid-table mediocrity

• Watford: Early fixtures will set the tone – for better or worse

• Swansea City: Swans need a striker, and stability

• Everton: In good hands with Koeman