da premier bet： Pep Guardiola's side have won every game despite facing many obstacles and have already laid down a marker in their bid for a fourth straight crown

da esoccer bet： We all know that Manchester City come into their own at the business end of the season. As Ruben Dias put it last April before their Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich, when they were starting to believe they could win the treble: "All of us have a special feeling and taste when it comes to this stage. Obviously, now is the time to be together and be producing – to be out there on the pitch doing what we can do best, every one of us."

City's rampant finishes to seasons, however, tend to come after sluggish starts. For whatever reason, be it integrating new signings or getting up to speed after a long break, Pep Guardiola's side tend to need a few weeks before they truly click into gear and start to rack up points at a terrifying rate.

Not this season, however. Despite an array of potential problems, City have made an imposing start to to the campaign, winning all of their opening five Premier League matches for the first time in seven years. And if they beat Nottingham Forest at home on Saturday, they will equal their best-ever start under Guardiola.

It is a terrifying prospect for the other Premier League title hopefuls, who would have hoped that winning the treble might have prompted a bit of complacency to set into Guardiola's side. Yet there is little sign of them slowing down at all…

Getty ImagesSlow starters

Although many teams would be more than happy with the way City tend to begin most campaigns if they replicated their average results, they do have a habit of making a slow start, especially considering the heights they tend to reach several months in.

In the treble-winning season they dropped four points in their opening six games, drawing a wild match at Newcastle 3-3 and then having to settle for a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa, who at the time were struggling badly under Steven Gerrard. They did not reach their best form until mid-February, going on an 11-game winning streak.

The season before then, 2021-22, they dropped five points from their first five games, losing their opener at Tottenham then drawing a blank at home to Southampton a few weeks later. They found their groove in November, going on to win 12 league matches in a row which proved crucial to edging out Liverpool on the final day.

They made their worst start under Guardiola in the 2020-21 season, dropping seven points from their opening five matches amid empty stadiums, losing 5-2 at home to Leicester while drawing at Leeds and West Ham. The sloppy start prompted questions about Guardiola's ability to turn things around after surrendering the title to Liverpool the previous season, but he eventually silenced his doubters by overseeing a run of 15 straight victories.

Even in the record-breaking 2017-18 season, when City became the first and only team to take 100 points, they did not make a perfect start, drawing 1-1 with Everton in their first home game before going on to win their next 18 consecutive matches.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesFar from ideal preparations

If ever City would have had excuses for a slow start, it would have been this season, for which they had barely any time to prepare. Guardiola's side finished the 2022-23 campaign two weeks later than almost every other Premier League side due to playing the FA Cup final against Manchester United on June 3 and the Champions League final on June 10.

Big celebrations followed each trophy win, with Guardiola boasting "we drunk all the alcohol in Manchester" after lifting their Premier League crown and Jack Grealish seemingly partying all over the world. City's international players were, therefore, given just three weeks' rest before beginning the pre-season tour of Asia.

The club lost three highly-experienced players in captain Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte while they were slow to make new signings, completing the deal to sign Josko Gvardiol just days before the Community Shield, while Jeremy Doku arrived after the season had begun and Matheus Nunes joined on transfer deadline day.

City had two finals crowbarred into their schedule, playing the Community Shield against Arsenal five days before their opener at Burnley and the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, in the scorching heat of Athens, five days afterwards. Both finals went to penalties.

City's participation in the Super Cup left them with fewer than three days to prepare for their second league game against Newcastle. But despite their far-from-ideal preparations, City eased to a 3-0 win at Burnley before comfortably beating Newcastle 1-0.

GettyInjury after injury

As if parting with Mahrez and Gundogan wasn't bad enough, City's season got off to a terrible start when Kevin De Bruyne tore his hamstring in the first half against Burnley, ruling him out for at least three months.

John Stones, who had been one of the most influential players in the treble quest, was also injured in the Community Shield and has still not played a minute of football this season.

Bernardo Silva, who City had to fight to keep hold of for the second summer in a row, was absent for two weeks with an illness and is set for another period out after being forced off before half-time against Red Star Belgrade.

Phil Foden was suffering from a stomach problem before the trip to Sheffield United but still came off the bench to set up Rodri's winner, while Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic picked up injuries before the international break.

City's injury problems have been so severe that by the end of the 3-1 win over Red Star in the Champions League, they had just three players left on the bench, two of which were goalkeepers.

Guardiola, who made five changes against Red Star, admitted his side were "in trouble" due to the injuries. Looking at their results, however, you would not know it.

(C)GettyImagesGuardiola's back surgery

City have not just been afflicted by injuries to players. Guardiola himself was forced to undergo emergency back surgery after the win over Newcastle, leaving his assistant Juanma Lillo in charge for more than two weeks.

Lillo is a hugely respected figure in the game and was a mentor to Guardiola when the Catalan was starting out as a coach, but he has a poor record of results as a head coach and does not speak English. After the Sheffield United game, he admitted he was not enjoying the experience of leading the team. However, he still managed to steer City to victory at Bramall Lane and oversaw the 5-1 thrashing of Fulham.

Even when they were without the architect of all their recent success, the City juggernaut continued to roll on.