Manchester City have exploded into life under Pep Guardiola in the Premier League, with a 100% record from their opening five games. They have smashed in fifteen goals in that period as well leaving them many people’s red hot favourites to take the title.
However, we have seen many teams burst out of the blocks in similar fashion in previous Premier League campaigns and it hasn’t always ended in glory. Here we look back on some previous record breaking starts and examine whether or not they led to ultimate glory at the end of the season.
2015/16
It’s only twelve months since we saw City string together five wins in a row at the start of an EPL season but it seems like eons ago already. Manuel Pellegrini watched his side brush past West Brom, Chelsea, Everton, Watford and Crystal Palace without conceding a goal. A defeat to West Ham almost on the 19th of September was the first indication that all was not rosy in the City garden, and they would go on to lose nine more times as they limped to the end of the Pellegrini reign.
Final League Position: Fourth. Fifteen points off champions Leicester City.
2011/12
City have a habit of good starts and they certainly needed a headstart on this occasion as the season went down to the very last second - you might remember a certain Kun Aguero goal from the final game?
A Roberto Mancini inspired City flew out of the blocks from day one winning eleven out of the opening twelve games, drawing the other with Fulham. Their first of five defeats arrived via Chelsea in December in game fifteen.
Final League Position: Champions. On goal difference from Manchester United.
2010/11
Reigning champions Chelsea matched Man City's current run with five wins in five games at the start of the season. The began the campaign incredibly with two 6-0 victories (over Wigan & West Brom respectively), and kept it going with further wins over Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool. Man City would halt their gallop thanks to a Carlos Tevez winner in game six.
Final League Position: Second. Nine points behind Manchester United.
2009/10
While he would pay for his insubordination with his job twelve months later, Carlo Ancelotti was the apple of Roman Abramovich's eye when he started his first season with six wins in a row. Hull, Sunderland, Fulham, Burley, Stoke and Spurs all fell to a red hot Chelsea who finished the season with an incredible 103 goals, the first time a team achieved that feat in the Premier League era.
Final League Position: First One point clear of Manchester United.
2005/2006
Pep and his Citizens need to claim all available points in their next four games if they are to match the remarkable start to the season of Chelsea in this season. Jose Mourinho's second campaign saw the Londoners blitz through the opening nine games conceding just three goals and beating Arsenal and Liverpool along the way.
Final League Position: First. Eight points clear of Manchester United.
1999/2000
Manchester United rarely led wire to wire but in the three in a row era at the turn of the century they were simply far too good for the rest of the league to handle.
A draw in their opening game against Everton was followed by six consecutive victories, three of which came over the rest of the eventual top four, Arsenal, Leeds and Liverpool. The European champions were an unstoppable force.
Final League Position: First. A whopping eighteen points ahead of Arsenal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3IjfsC50FM&list=PLDEr5lOakatqwlghflmtUQsUv5kI4HQlc
1994/1995
Fresh from a sensational third place finish in their first season in the Premier League in 1993/94, Kevin Keegan's men began the new season like a train. Six wins, twenty-two goals, Ruel Fox, Peter Beardsley and Andrew Cole running riot - they were simply irresistible. They were unable to sustain their momentum however and the sale of Cole to Man United in January saw them eventually tail off to a disappointing finish as they only scored a further forty-five goals in the remaining thirty-six games.
They would almost replicate that great start the following season with six wins from their first seven games. They went on to lead the table by ten points on Christmas Day but faltered in the run in finishing second to Alex Ferguson and Manchester United.
Final League Position (94/95) : Sixth. Seventeen points off Blackburn Rovers.
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