Manchester City are 7/1 with Sky Bet to beat Lancashire rivals Bolton tonight by four goals or more, which would see them leapfrog Spurs and Liverpool to go fourth in the table. Manchester City’s odds of finishing the season in the fourth spot are 21/10, although they are favoured to miss out on a Champions League berth and Sky Bet go 1/2 that they finish fifth or lower.

Sky Bet’s football betting spokeswoman Helen Jacob said: “Gary Cahill’s injury has dealt Bolton a severe blow and despite being top price at 8/1, all the money today is for City who are being heavily backed to take advantage and refocus their pursuit of a top-four finish.”

The Citizens face games against Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham over the next month and are 25/1 to win all three matches against their top-four rivals and 14/1 to pick up no points from the three ties.

Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Hull was City's second Premier League defeat in three games. Roberto Mancini has now suffered three defeats in his ten games in charge, while his predecessor Mark Hughes had lost two out of 21 matches prior to being sacked. Sky Bet make Mancini 5/1 NOT to see out the season at Eastlands.

Man City Finishing Position 09/10
1st 80/1
2nd 50/1
3rd 13/2
4th 21/10
5th or Worse 1/2

Points v Liverpool, Chelsea & Spurs 21st Feb - 6th Mar
Note: How many points will City get against their top 4 rivals in these 3 crucial games? If any are postponed all bets are void.
0 14/1 5 8/1
1 5/1 6 4/1
2 6/1 7 8/1
3 10/3 9 25/1
4 9/4

Mancini last 2009/10 season at Man City
Yes 1/10
No 5/1

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