Whilst the naysayers have been pointing to the defending champions perhaps having slipped a little from the dizzying heights of 2011-12, the statistics remain compelling.
In terms of points gained from the opening ten matches of a Premier League season, this is the joint- second best opening to a season on record.
In the 16 campaigns in the English top flight since football’s ‘Big Bang’ in 1992, the Blues have only once garnered more than the 22 points that they have this term – and that was last year when a blistering start saw Roberto Mancini’s men accumulate 28 by this stage.
The 2007 season under Sven-Goran Eriksson saw the Blues also rack up 22pts from 10 starts but that season fizzled out badly with only 33pts coming from the remaining 28 matches and finished with an 8-1 loss at Middlesbrough and the Swede losing his job. City finished 9th that year.
This is only the second time, following the success of twelve months ago, in Premier League history that the Blues have gone through the opening ten games without defeat.
One game was lost in the first ten in 2009 when City collected 19 points – the team’s fourth best performance in the opening ten contests.
On the reverse side of the coin, the current champions amassed a measly two points from the first ten games under Alan Ball in 1995 via two draws and eight defeats, and only eight in 2002 when Kevin Keegan was in charge though that year, unlike 1995 when they were relegated, the Blues recovered well to 9th place.
Check out the full table:
