Man City academy play down fourth-straight title expectations after Premier League rule change

"It's a completely different competition now so it bears no resemblance to what we've done previously," says Manchester City under-21 head coach Brian Barry-Murphy, regarding the prospect of a fourth Premier League 2 title in a row.

City have won the Premier League 2 first division for the last three seasons, so are naturally favourites for another title. Even with £34m of transfer fees accumulated for key players leaving, the under-18 players stepping up are also league champions. Winning runs are in the blood at City.

But the Premier League has ripped up its youth league system and completely overhauled the PL2 for the next season. No longer do City play all of their opponents home and away, but a complicated combination of teams just once, before a knock-out competition among the best 16 teams decides the overall winners.

The old cliche goes that the best team will emerge on top after every side plays each other twice in a season. The new format won't provide that opportunity, with City fighting against the odds this season to remain PL2 champions.

Ruben Dias spots title-winning quality in City win at Sheffield United

"It's going to be more random," Barry-Murphy tells MEN Sport. "We would normally play Aston Villa and say 'see you in the return fixture' but there isn't one. The benefits for us are going to be a lot of teams we haven't faced before.

"It's very difficult to predict. We are a much younger team now than we were before. I always thought by Christmas last year we would gather momentum and go on really good runs but I think it's different this year due to the nature of the league and the nature of our squad.

"That doesn't mean we can't do well as the season progresses and make it into the play-off