Former Manchester City midfielder Dietmar Hamann has backed Manuel Pellegrini's side to win the Premier League title this season.

The Citizens are currently eighth in the league table with 19 points from 11 matches, six points behind leaders Arsenal.

"They have to keep their home form and they have to start winning away games," he told Sky Sports News. "It has been very disappointing to watch them in games that you did not expect them to struggle in.

"Probably at Aston Villa they were a little hard done by the referee. They were well on top in the first half and probably should have won the game but I don't think there were too many complaints at the end.

"But at Sunderland and Cardiff [City] they also lost and they have been beaten four times away from home this year. You would think they can probably only afford to lose two, maybe three, more if they want to win the league."

However, Hamann believes that City need to improve their away form to regain the title.

"For me they are still the most likely Premier League champions, but they have to start improving their away form," he said.

"If they don't do that, once you get six points behind the team at the top - and the way Arsenal is going now - it could be very hard to claw them back."

Hamann played for City between 2006 and 2009.