Manchester City's perfect start now meets the clubs chasing them
None of City's six beaten opponents sit in the current top six. Three of City's next four dated league fixtures are away to clubs that do, including Chelsea and London City Lionesses, second and third in the table.
Tom McMillan
Manchester City made it six wins from six league matches on October 18, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2. In Notebook FC's table, calculated from the results recorded through that date, City have 18 points. Chelsea are second on 16 and London City Lionesses third on 15, and all three clubs have played six times.
None of the six clubs City have beaten currently sit in the top six. The highest placed is Liverpool, seventh in a table of 14. The others are Arsenal in eighth, Aston Villa in 10th, Brighton in 12th and the clubs in 13th and 14th. Those positions are an early snapshot, and each of those clubs has a defeat to City counted against it. Across six matches, City have yet to face a club currently in the top six.
That changes straight away. City's next four dated fixtures begin with a trip to Manchester United, fifth on 10 points, on October 25. They visit London City Lionesses on November 1, host West Ham United, ninth, on November 7, and travel to Chelsea on November 14. Three of the four are away against top six clubs, and two of those hosts are the clubs nearest City in the table. Four of City's first six matches were at home.
The three leaders arrive with different scorelines. City have scored 19, the most in the league, and conceded eight. They have kept one clean sheet, in a 1-0 win away to the bottom club. They conceded twice in three of their wins: 4-2 against Liverpool on September 18, 4-2 against Arsenal on October 4 and 3-2 against Brighton on October 18. Chelsea have five wins and a draw, scoring 18 and conceding three, the fewest in the league. London City have five wins and a defeat, with 17 scored and six conceded.
The gap may change before City kick off at Manchester United at 18:00 UTC on October 25. Notebook FC's table does not include the fixtures scheduled for October 24. Earlier on October 25, the captured schedule has Chelsea playing away at 12:00 UTC and London City Lionesses visiting Liverpool at 14:00 UTC.
The run is an early test of City's lead, with 20 league fixtures still to play. One of those, away to Liverpool, has no kickoff date yet. The schedule also gives the return meetings a different setting: City host Chelsea on January 10, Manchester United on February 14 and London City Lionesses on May 9. Under the current schedule, City will have met both of their closest pursuers on the road by the middle of November, with the home games against them still to come.
Sources
- Notebook FC football record
