Manchester City are top of the Premier League table and our advice is to get used to it. Granted, Arsenal can regain their place at the summit with victory over Liverpool on Sunday and the way Mikel Arteta’s side are playing, they have every chance of doing so. Yet anything less than that and the champions will lead the way by mid-October, and that only seems natural given the sheer supremacy of their play over just about every opponent of late.
After hitting six in last weekend’s Manchester derby and five here in midweek against Copenhagen, there were just the four goals this time against Southampton, but it would be a stretch to describe what the Etihad has witnessed over the past week as diminishing returns.
If anything, Pep Gaurdiola’s side are only getting better. Erling Haaland scored again, of course - his 20th in 13 games - but then so did Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez. A reminder, as if it were needed, that just because City now have a star attraction, they are still far from a one-man team.