The crucial areas Man City have improved from last season

Bernardo Silva said last week after Manchester City had dismantled Sporting Lisbon that the Blues have been operating “at a higher level even than last season”.

Quite claim, given that the Blues won the Premier League at a canter and reached the Champions League final in a European campaign that even ultra-perfectionist manager Pep Guardiola described as being “almost perfect”.

Once a team reaches the maturity and smooth-functioning mechanical timing that the Blues have honed over the last six years under Guardiola, there is little room to improve, despite the manager’s repeated insistence that there is still a long way to go.

The truth is that improvement comes in small increments, and is usually about details, rather than quantum leaps in any area.

The stats show that there are crucial areas in which City have improved in the Premier League this season, and those areas are key to the fact they have risen above the crowd in the league table, with only Liverpool able to keep within touching distance.

There are certain things that are not measurable by stats of course, and Guardiola has described the squad harmony this season as “exceptional” - every player is fighting for his place but doing so without disrespecting the “friendly enemies” going for the same places in the team.

Other factors, such as desire and determination are also not really measurable.

But there are parts of City’s game that have improved pretty dramatically, even when compared to the 2018-19 season which many feel was the Blues’ finest as they racked up 98 points under intense pressure from Liverpool.

The fact is that this season City are far more dangerous at attacking setpieces, far more secure in defending setpieces, less likely to concede