James That's how I have seen it all along too. The head to head might decide where the title is headed this season.

      Rohit The game felt huge at the time, which feels odd now considering Chelsea won the league by 12 points haha. Maybe I’m forgetting it meant more in terms of how that first meeting went at Old Trafford.

        City’s run of fixtures over the next few weeks look tough too

        To me City just haven't consistently looked menacing this season. They may go on a run anytime, they have so much quality but we have just showed better balance. We are similar in terms of GD too which is at times a fair indicator of 'luck'.

          Rohit We are similar in terms of GD too which is at times a fair indicator of 'luck'.

          Clearest indicator of how far we’ve come really, as we were hovering at just above + number majority of last season.

          It’s remarkable really how much our shot data etc. has improved in a year also. Im pretty confident that the Leeds game is the only one this season where the opposition has had more shots than us in a fixture. We were mid-table fodder in those numbers a couple of seasons ago.

              James I was thinking of this while watching the match. Without Jesus, the only addition to our team is Saliba. Basically it's pretty much the same team that did so averagely last season. Other than the tweak for Xhaka to play further forward, what has changed?! Really incredible.

              Oh and of course not having Lacazette leading the line is huge. Absolutely huge

                  Clrnc we were pretty good in stages last season, especially when Partey was fit.

                  Aside from that you also have improvement from the young guys. Martinelli and Odegaard in particular have gone up another level.

                    Clrnc the fullback structure has also been key. Benny blanco and zinchenko (when fit) added more dynamism to our build up play

                    aside from that it's been good old fashioned internal improvement across the board

                        Gazza M Yeah. Also shows internal improvement is far more important for a revolution than buying an entirely new squad as many suggested when they kept claiming those same players are not good enough. Now they looked a lot better in a functional team.

                        Just look at this difference. Ridiculous

                            Clrnc no way was that last year. Don't think we had a run as bad as that post FA Cup Autumn. So either I'm suffering a case of amnesia or the guy means 2 years.

                                Clrnc Also shows internal improvement is far more important for a revolution than buying an entirely new squad as many suggested when they kept claiming those same players are not good enough

                                Hang on, what? 😆

                                Which same players that have improved internally were people suggesting needed replacement? Saka? Martinelli? Becasue virtually the entirety of the other starting XI players are additions made over the last 2-3 years. The only exception is Xhaka.

                                  15 days later

                                  Clrnc leaning heavily towards won at this point! Hopefully Spurs feel like they have a point to prove on Thursday.

                                  Since the WC we’ve got 10 points from West Ham, Brighton, Newcastle and Spurs. Very impressive especially without Jesus.

                                  Before City visit we have United (h), Everton (a) and Brentford (h). They have Tottenham, Wolves, Tottenham and Villa.

                                  Win the league in Feb so we can focus on Europa?

                                      banduan Get through this with more than 10 points and we winning this league.

                                      7 so far and it's looking like an outstanding return.

                                      Now with United at home, City away in the FA Cup fourth round next …

                                        I'm worried about the mancs. We were lucky last time round.
                                        Unlike many here I do rate their squad, they just needed coaching and they've also improved it.

                                          Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert he means the home game last season. We definitely were not lucky in that one either.

                                          yup, that game. We were strong but they missed a peno and had long stretches of control in the match where they just didn't get the rub of the green. Even Mikel admitted we were lucky.

                                            Hearing Ball Slap isn’t far off a return.

                                            Would be good. He looked totes amazeballs in his last few outings