Two Man City wins in October can clear path for Premier League title race advantage

One of Pep Guardiola's biggest complaints is the amount of games Manchester City have to play, while accepting it's a necessary price to pay for when chasing four trophies each year.

When the fixtures resume next weekend with an enticing Manchester derby, a period of 12 games in 42 days begins for City in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup. The task for the Blues will be to end the first half of the Premier League season in contention for the title, preferably top of the table, while safely qualified for the knockout stages in the Champions League, and into the next round of the Carabao Cup.

That will require plenty of planning and management of the squad for an intense run. And Guardiola may well be targeting one week in particular that will significantly help the task in hand for the following month.

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After the Manchester United game, City welcome FC Copenhagen in the Champions League, who are winless in their first two games. A week later, they travel to the Danish capital for the fourth of six group games, knowing that six points will see them on 12 out of 12 and potentially qualified for the last 16 with two games to spare.

With City leading the way on six points, Borussia Dortmund on three, and Copenhagen ahead of Sevilla on goal difference as both sides have one point, the group is firmly in City's control. In fact, City can qualify by that game on November 11 by taking four points from the two Copenhagen games, providing Sevilla only take one in their own double-header with Dortmund.

Six points is obviously preferable, however, and if Sevilla can hold Dortmund to two draws, they could