City to be best of the rest ( .. but top four finish?Don't make us laugh ); Betting Boys.

Byline: KEVIN PRICE; JOHN CURLE

CITY SLICKERS JT or not JT, that is the question.

The pursuit of Chelsea icon John Terry throws into stark light just how the Premier League is set to be shaken up by the cash-rich powerhouse that is now Manchester City.

The fact that they can afford to face off with Chelsea over the signature of the Stamford Bridge captain is getting people very excited.

Factor in the recent signings of Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez and Emmanual Adebayor and City are being talked of as genuine 'Top Four' contenders.

So, are Arsenal - without question the weakest of the 'Big Four' - in for the shock of their lives? Is Arsene Wenger facing a catastrophe? Will the Emirates be rocked to its very foundations?

Holy Blue Moon Batman!

Now, we like City and happen to think that Mark Hughes has done a decent job at Eastlands. But fourth? Sorry, that's just not going to happen.

At the end of last season, Arsenal finished fourth and Manchester City finished 10th. There was a chasm of 22 points between them.

The only way Hughes and City are going to bridge that gap is if they bought the entire Arsenal team!

Sure, Arsenal may drop back and City will almost certainly take more than the 50 points with which they ended the 2008-09 season. But 22 points? Never.

City to finish in the top four: 7/4 Yes, 2/5 No (Boylesport).

Skybet have framed a market offering odds about the first team to beat City in the League.

Hughes takes his team to his old stomping ground of Ewood Park for the first game of the season on August 15.

Looking at City's appalling away record last term - two wins from 19 - it's tempting to take Skybet's 13/8 that Blackburn douse the City fire before it's even been lit. But if we did that we'd be a bit silly because Coral are offering 21/10 about Rovers winning the opening-day fixture. Just imagine if Blackburn did win. City would be a club in crisis at 4.50 on the first day of the season with their manager facing the sack!

The first team to beat City in the League: 13/8 Blackburn (game one, a), 10/3 Pompey (game three, a), 4 Manchester United (game five, a), 9/2 Arsenal (game four, h), 10 Wolves (game two, h), 16 bar (Skybet).

While we don't think City will have enough about them to make it into the top four, they certainly have fifth-place Everton in their sights.

There was 13 points between them last season and there is no question that is a bridgeable gap.

We just get the feeling that maybe Everton and, to a larger extent, Aston Villa could be running out of steam. Certainly Villa's latest acquisition Stewart Downing leaves us totally underwhelmed.

City would have a big shout at finishing fifth and the bookies have priced them up as favourites.

To finish top without the Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal: 5/4 Manchester City, 4 Spurs, 5 Everton, 13/2 Villa, 33 Fulham, 40 West Ham, 66 bar (best prices available).

OUR BIG CITY BET: City to finish top without the 'Big Four' (5/4, Ladbrokes, Betfred, VCbet).

CAPTION(S):

CARLOS KICKABALL Tevez is part of the City revolution