Seven Straight, and Then What?

Manchester City won its first seven games this season. Only two teams had done that in Premier League history: Chelsea in 2005-06 and Liverpool in 2019-20. Both won the league.

Unbeaten starts are more common. Since 2020-21, seven teams have gone their first seven games without a loss, most recently City and Arsenal in 2024-25. Only one, City in 2022-23, won the title. City finished third in 2024-25, Arsenal second. Tottenham did it twice and finished eighth and fifth.

Tottenham's 2023-24 season is the warning. Spurs went unbeaten through ten games, then lost 4-1 at home to Chelsea and lost three of their next four. They finished fifth.

City has followed its 7-0-0 start with losses to Aston Villa and Brighton. It also came during the commission's ruling that City broke the Premier League's financial rules on 114 of the 115 charges, with sanctions still to come.

Or maybe the start says less than it looked. After seven games, City had played the easiest schedule in the league, 20th of 20 by The Precedent's strength of schedule.

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