Well everyone have their opinion but in my opinion i think City are going to retain the title this season, i still see them as very strong title contenders based on their position currently, though their performance might not be as good as last seasons but City are still the league leaders and i believe we'll see them doing better when their star play Kelvin Debruyne recovers from injury cause it obvious that City are missing him in their squad, especially Haaland who benefited from his assists last season.
Well the competition this season is amongst Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, these are the top 4 clubs that have the best performance so far this season and i think it's either city or Arsenal that might win the league.
City might be one of the best in terms of competing for the title but one thing I haven't seen is that I have not seem a season that comes and goes without Manchester City not being in form, they're just good and that's what other club don't have that's why they're better in the league.
Manchester City current position doesn't show if they won't defend their title or not and as it stands the players that ain't in the team are not even showing. Pep Guardiola is a coach that always have back up and he knows how to improvise when things ain't going his way, like the absence of KDB, he got one of the better player Phil Foden to play KDB's part.
As for teams who are likely to win the league or give City another headache I can't for sure mention those two London clubs, Tottenham and Arsenal. They're never serious but let's see how this season will be like for them.