Just how good are Manchester City this season?
Pep Guardiola's side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Southampton this year but are still in the hunt for three major trophies heading into the final months of the season. They trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by eight points but with a game in hand as well as a home game against the frontrunners the reigning champions are still confident they can be victorious again - especially if the 42-goal Erling Haaland can return fit and firing from the groin injury that kept him out of Liverpool.
Irrespective of the table, the signing of Haaland in particular has led to much debate over whether City are better this season or not. Has their considerable change over the summer where they sold a number of experienced winners and brought in fresh-faced replacements had an immediate benefit?
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After 28 league games last season, they were top of the table with 68 points - four more than they currently have. A different way of looking at it though is to compare their results against the same opposition; for instance they beat Liverpool at home this year where they only drew last year, but also lost at Brentford where last year they won.
Taking those results across the season, City are currently one point behind the side that went on to win the title last year. However, given their last league visit to St Mary's resulted in a 1-1 draw this Saturday gives them the opportunity to move back ahead of their marker; three points at the weekend will put them one point ahead of their comparative total from last season.
The daunting challenge after that is that last year's version won all nine of the remaining fixtures after Southampton, meaning that Guardiola's 2022/23 vintage will have to win all of their games to eclipse last year's total in what would get them 94 points. The other downside is that it may not be enough to win the title this year, with Arsenal currently able to get a higher total.
Yet victory at Southampton would contribute towards a wider Guardiola point about the way success is seen. City trail by eight points at this stage this time where last year they led by six, but that is much more down to the fact that Arsenal have been so much better than anybody was last year rather than the fact that the Blues have been much worse.
It will still take an unbelievable effort to match the tally from the last City season, and that may not be enough for the league. If Guardiola and his team end up in the same ballpark that saw them taste victory last year, they can still be satisfied wherever that sees them finish.
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