5 reasons Manchester City will catch Chelsea

Tactical variation

Guardiola has got into trouble for his tinkering in the first half of the season – the former Barca boss won 10 consecutive games with a back four before deciding to experiment with a three-man defence (which, to the glee of many onlookers, coincided with a rapid downturn in form) – but no-one can deny it’s difficult to predict how City will line up from one match to the next.

The opposite is true of Conte, who has – quite understandably – been firmly wedded to the 3-4-3 formation that has seen his team win 11 on the spin. While Chelsea have squashed the competition so far, it’s not uncommon for the smaller teams to wise up after watching one of the big boys run rampant up close. If one of them finds the formula for stifling the Blues, others could quickly follow suit – a bit like when opponents figured out all you had to do to stop Moyes’ United was head away the 200 cross attempts.

The counter argument is that Chelsea players are (and will be, to an even greater extent, as the season progresses) more familiar with their system with each game, while their City counterparts – not knowing how Pep will set them up from one week to the next – will fail to master a single, coherent game-plan. Equally, though, the importance of a viable plan “B” – one that has seen the light of an actual game, not just the training pitch (and can therefore be implemented at a moment’s notice) – cannot be understated.