After making the best start to a Premier League campaign of any side, Manchester City will aim to maintain their winning run when welcoming Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
A record of 28 points from a possible 30 has been matched twice before, but the Citizens' hugely impressive goal difference of +29 puts them out in front in what has been a truly incredible campaign thus far.
Manchester City
© OffsideTry as he might, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for City boss Pep Guardiola - a perennial winner at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich - to play down his side's chances of running away with the Premier League title this season.
Guardiola rightly pointed out that the current pacesetters won 10 on the spin to begin his first season in charge but, unlike 12 months ago, City have showed few signs of slowing down and they are continuing to brush away all comers.
In fact, it was Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers who came closest to derailing the Citizens' bid for success on four fronts this term, becoming the only side to stop them from scoring en route to taking last week's EFL Cup last-16 clash all the way to penalties.
City came out on top in the shootout to make it 14 victories in a row and 15 out of 16 overall - Everton still the only side to take anything off them - in what could be a record-breaking season if this form continues through the winter months.
Four goals conceded in their last two matches may suggest that the defensive frailties are beginning to show, which so often proved their downfall last time out, but when you can score goals at a rate of over three-a-game it tends to matter little.
The two-time Prem champs have netted 49 times in 16 matches overall during this near-perfect start to the season, leaving them five points clear at the top of the table, giving them a route into the last eight of the EFL Cup and with a last-16 spot to look forward to in the Champions League.
That City are now second favourites to lift the European Cup next May says an awful lot about their form in the opening months of 2017-18, most recently beating Napoli 4-2 away from home as they ticked off yet another difficult assignment.
The stats are impressive whatever way you look at them and, with four mid-to-lower-half sides to face immediately after the international break, Guardiola will not want this stunning streak to come to an end anytime soon.
Recent form in Premier League: WWWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Arsenal
© SilverHub"Character" tends to be the go-to word for Arsene Wenger when analysing Arsenal's matches of late, having seen his side recover from a goal down three times in a row prior to Thursday's stalemate at home to Red Star Belgrade.
The results were even more prominent given the comments made by Watford skipper Troy Deeney last month following the Gunners' 2-1 loss at Vicarage Road, when claiming that the visiting players 'lacked cojones' - essentially accusing them of having no fighting spirit.
That never-say-die attitude has been clear to see in the three weeks since that setback, however, as Arsenal scored late on to beat Red Star in Belgrade and then bounced back to win successive matches against Everton, Norwich City and Swansea City.
Even the goalless draw with the Serbian side in this week's reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium was a decent enough result, even if it was met by a few boos from the home end, as Wenger's men picked up the point needed to progress through to the last-32 stage.
The bloated nature of the Europa League means that the Frenchman will have plenty more games to give his fringe players a chance to impress in the second half of the season, but for now all focus is purely on closing the nine-point deficit on City.
One defeat in 13 since their heavy reverse to Liverpool in August points to an Arsenal revival, but even that will do little to appease many of the supporters who are desperate to see Wenger leave, with another loss this weekend giving them further ammunition ahead of the two-week break.
This really is a huge month for the Gunners, as they follow up Sunday's trip to Manchester with a home match against Tottenham Hotspur immediately after the international break, while Manchester United and Liverpool also visit the Emirates Stadium before Christmas.
A fifth league win in six matches this weekend is vital if Arsenal are to have any realistic aspirations of catching their opponents, or else another battle for the top four - which they missed out on last term - may be the best they can hope for.
Recent form in Premier League: DWWLWW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWWWD
Team News
© OffsideCity's victory in Naples is made all the more impressive when taking into consideration that Kyle Walker, David Silva and Gabriel Jesus were rested in midweek.
All three are likely to come straight back in for this one, though, meaning that club-record goalscorer Sergio Aguero may have to drop down to the bench, while full-back Danilo looks certain to make way for Walker.
Guardiola, still without injured defenders Benjamin Mendy and Vincent Kompany, also has a big decision to make in attack as Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane may be feeling a little fatigued.
In terms of the visitors, Wenger has been able to utilise Alexandre Lacazette, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in his side's last two league outings and is expected to stick with that attacking trident for the trip north.
Sead Kolasinac, already a fan favourite thanks to some impressive displays down the flank since arriving as a free agent in the summer, is a fitness doubt after pulling up injured against Swansea.
Wenger expects to have the Bosnia-Herzegovina full-back available for selection, however, and that could see him go with a settled XI on the back of the 2-1 win over the Swans a week ago.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Delph; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sane
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Cech; Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal; Bellerin, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil, Sanchez, Lacazette
Head To Head
Arsenal boast a decent recent record against Man City, losing just one of their last nine matches in all competitions - a 2-1 Premier League defeat in this corresponding fixture last December.
The sides then played out a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium in the reverse meeting, with the Gunners twice recovering from behind, before prevailing 2-1 in their FA Cup semi-final showdown at Wembley in April.
Overall, the North Londoners have won 96 and drawn 45 of the 191 encounters between the two sides in all competitions, beginning with a 1-0 win way back in 1893.
We say: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal
Man City have scored at least three goals in their last four home top-flight outings, including a 5-0 win against Liverpool here in their last meeting with a fellow elite side, and on recent form you would not bet against them finding their scoring feet once again. The Citizens are the only side in the division to boast better average possession and pass completion stats than Arsenal, which they will have to put to good use this weekend.
