Manchester City have made a promising start to their Premier League title defence as they head to Newcastle with two wins from their opening games.
If defeat to Liverpool in the Community Shield had the Blues fretting about the team being undercooked, the first fortnight of the campaign has emphatically changed the narrative. City can move seven points clear of Jurgen Klopp's side if they beat Newcastle on Sunday, with Liverpool at Old Trafford the following night.
Winning the first three games of the campaign does not seem that extraordinary in a side that has broken a slew of records in English football, yet it is something that Pep Guardiola is not used to. In fact, he has only ever done it once before in the Premier League.
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Last season of course started with an opening-day defeat to Tottenham, while the 2020/21 campaign saw a 5-2 humbling at home to Leicester City that accelerated a need to buy a defender; Ruben Dias was signed before the next game and City went on to win the league. The previous year featured an(other) agonizing draw with Tottenham in the first home game, with an injury-time winner from Gabriel Jesus controversially ruled out that time.
In 2018, City won their first two matches but were held by Premier League newcomers Wolves at Molineux in their third - ironically, the Wolves goal helped to prompt the rule change that disallowed the Jesus effort against Spurs the following season. And even in their Centurions campaign, the Blues were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Everton before needing a late, late Raheem Sterling winner at Bournemouth to avoid dropping points in two of their first three games.
Their best start under Guardiola, funnily enough, is their worst finish in a Premier League under the manager. Back in 2016 they beat Sunderland (2-1), Stoke (3-1) and West Ham (4-1) as part of a honeymoon period that had City seen as all-conquering under the new coach before the wheels spectacularly came off.
With three wins and a +6 goal difference from that sequence of games, City only need to beat Newcastle on Sunday to make it their best ever start under Guardiola as they already have +6 thanks to wins over West Ham (2-0) and Bournemouth (4-0).
That won't guarantee any success in May, but would show how underrated a solid start can be. If City can have a better platform early on in the season, there is more room for error later on.
With a winter World Cup looming that will impact on the season in ways nobody can predict, a surer footing at the beginning of the season will be no bad thing. And, if they get three points on Sunday, a new thing under Guardiola.
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