Even as Liverpool were raising the Premier League trophy at the end of last season, the bookies had Pep Guardiola's Manchester City as odds-on favorites to win the league this year. That status was likely bolstered by Monday's solid win over Wolves. A 3-1 victory against a side that they failed to rack up points against, home or away, last season surely increased confidence within Manchester City too, and they'll need it when they face Leicester City tonight.

Though the match is being played behind closed doors due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, City will still want to make sure they get all three points from their first home game this season. Manchester United are so far the only team in 2020 to have beaten City at home and, since then, they have an aggregate goal tally of 35-5 in 11 games.

The high-scoring Manchester City attack may be missing from this particular fixture as both Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are out with injuries. It speaks volumes about the squad's embarrassment of riches that even without their two main goalscorers, they still have the possibility of plenty coming from the wings thanks to Kevin de Bruyne and ex-Leicester man Riyad Mahrez. Plus, Raheem Sterling is back in the starting line-up.

They'll need to be firing on all cylinders as the Foxes arrive on both a two-game winning streak in the Premier League and also a loss to Arsenal in the EFL Cup, which they will surely want to bounce back from. They won 3-0 on the first weekend in their game against West Bromwich Albion and then 4-2 against Burnley last week. Those sides are significantly worse than Manchester City, even in their current injury-weakened state, but the scorelines show Leicester are an attacking side who constantly move the ball up the pitch and threaten whenever they get near the goal.

As always, the main threat of Brendan Rodgers' side is Jamie Vardy, who doesn't seem to be slowing down at 33 years old. He's likely to be backed up by Marc Albrighton and Harvey Barnes. Only two games in, it's difficult to make any real claims of quality, but Barnes is already proving to be dangerous this season by providing goalscoring opportunities and plenty of service to Vardy and the other center-forwards.

The 2015-16 season may as well be a lifetime ago, yet the memory of Leicester City's unbelievable Premier League title win lingers, making that team feel as if they can overcome any odds. They'll need luck, blessings, fate and whatever else they had that season tonight to overcome the sheer quality of this Manchester City side.