Manchester City look invincible right now – but Pep Guardiola is having none of it.
City opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a seventh straight win and already have the look of champions with only a quarter of the season gone.
This win was their 11th in a row in all competitions in a single campaign, a club record that provided conclusive proof that City are unquestionably the team to beat this season.
It is hard to see how they are going to come unstuck, so formidable to Guardiola’s side look in every department, swatting aside every opponent they face.
With City yet to lose in the Premier League, talk has inevitably turned to whether they can match Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ of 2003-04, who went the entire season unbeaten.
But Guardiola dismissed any suggestion City can match that feat, insisting his swaggering side will falter at some stage and lose, despite looking so imperious right now.
Asked if the biggest danger to City’s title hopes was complacency creeping into his squad, Guardiola said: “That’s not going to happen. We’re going to lose games, of course.
“I’m here to win the next one, then the next one and then in May we can see how the season was.
“But, if you ask me if we can finish unbeaten, I say that cannot happen.
“The only thing I think about as a manager, ever since my career started, is the next one and then the next one.
“I know people like a lot of statistics in football, comparing what one has done and with the other one.
“I’m happy for 11 wins in a row because it shows that we can win a lot of games in a row.
“To have this kind of statistic is ridiculous, because football today is so demanding. But we know that when we don’t play good we’re going to lose games.
“It doesn’t make any difference if the other team is not in the top-five or six, any team can beat us. There are a lot of games, a lot of competition and we focus every three days, but there will be a moment when we go down.
“At that moment I’m curious to test myself and the players on how we react to that, because some times we must be warriors.”
As dazzling as City have been going forward, their attacking prowess has been built on a solid foundation at the back, with a strong defence and fearless keeper in Ederson.
After the sickening collision with Liverpool’s Sadio Mane, which left Ederson needing eight stitches to a facial wound, there were concerns he could be less inclined to put himself in such danger again.
But here the Brazil international, who has kept seven clean sheets in nine Premier League games, was brave and decisive, putting himself in harm’s way for the good of the team when he needed to.
“It’s the way I play,” said Ederson. “If I have to put my hand, my head or my foot there to help the team, that’s what I’m going to do.
“It’s part of the game, those situations in the box, and I’ve always played the same way.
“I have no fear of anything. I knew how physical the game is here, how strong and all the tackles. So I was already ready for that and wasn’t really surprised.
“I don’t think I deserve all the credit because all of my teammates deserves the credit.
“We’re defending really well, we’re working really well on the right path and we must keep working in the same way.”
City took the lead in the 28th minute after a theatrical dive from Bernardo Silva, under a challenge from Burnley keeper Nick Pope, saw ref Roger East award a dubious penalty.
Sergio Aguero scored to equal Eric Brook’s long-standing club record of 177 goals and has the chance to claim it outright tomorrow in the Carabao Cup tie at home to Wolves.
Further goals from Nicolas Otamendi and Leroy Sane sealed the win, the only question now being whether anyone can beat City to the title that is theirs for the taking.