Manchester City’s early goal glut shows no signs of stopping after Saturday’s 5-0 home win over Crystal Palace.
Following on from their 5-0 triumph over Liverpool and 6-0 victory at Watford, Pep Guardiola’s side have scored 16 goals in their last three Premier League matches and amassed 21 in total.
That is six more than Chelsea had managed (15) at this stage of the 2009/10 season, when they went on to set the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League campaign (103), averaging 2.7 per fixture.
City are averaging 3.5 per match and, if they can sustain that rate, are on course to register 133 goals this term.
Yet Chelsea have a chance to protect their record and slow their rivals’ progress on Saturday when the two teams meet at Stamford Bridge.
Antonio Conte’s side have conceded only one goal across their last four matches, and Guardiola will be wary of what happened at this point last year.
Man City had three fewer goals after six matches (18) but had two extra points, having won every fixture.
But their perfect start was ended in London in Gameweek 7 as they visited Tottenham Hotspur and lost 2-0. They went on to draw three of their next four matches.
Interestingly, only Newcastle United (22 goals in 1994/95) and Manchester United (22 goals in 2011/12) have scored more at this stage of a Premier League season, but neither went on to win the title.
