You Bet | Soccer 'crisis talk' comes far too easy these days
Manchester City the latest team supposedly struggling, but they will likely beat Everton
Crisis is a much overused word in the early weeks of the season. Arsenal were in crisis after their opening-day defeat by Aston Villa, yet have been superb ever since; Manchester United have been there too, but still this crisis club have four points out of six in the Champions League after Wednesday's solid draw at Shakhtar Donetsk; while Chelsea were in supposed crisis after defeats by Everton and Basel, but promptly went top of the Premier League, albeit briefly.
The list goes on. West Brom were under fire for their poor start, but then gave one of the best performances of the season to win at Old Trafford last weekend, while Everton were criticised after opening with three draws under Roberto Martinez (two of them goalless) but are now being lauded for their possession football and are the only unbeaten team in the English Premier League.
Now it is Manchester City's turn in the spotlight after their 3-1 home defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. City's performance was calamitous in parts, notably Joe Hart's goalkeeping, but as in previous cases it is easy to read too much into one result.
Bayern Munich, of course, are reigning European champions and took Barcelona apart in even more clinical fashion at the Nou Camp in April, when they won their Champions League semi-final second leg 3-0. Clearly Bayern are capable of destroying any team, even among the elite.
For punters, it can be difficult to keep things in perspective. Every time a big team loses there is an in-depth post-mortem, almost as if they are entitled to win every game, but any team can lose. That is where the betting odds come into play, in weighing up how likely it is that a team will win, lose or draw.
As they cope with their hangover, City face fast-developing Everton in tonight's early kick-off and are favourites. The odds suggest their chance of winning is around 62 per cent, making them most likely winners, but with the expectation that they would not win four times out of 10.