'Impossible for Manchester City to maintain form'

There has been much talk this season City's free-scoring attack, but Pep Guardiola believes the scintillating start will falter inevitably, and only then will he find out if his players have what it takes to win the Premier League title.

The Citizens have only failed to win once in all competitions this season (1-1 at home to Everton back in August), bagging 42 goals in 13 games and conceding only six. Guardiola, however, refuses to get carried away by praise.

"We are in October. We cannot expect to finish the season like we have done in the last month when we won all the games. It's impossible in football in the high level.", the Spaniard said.

"But I want to see how we are going to react in that moment when we drop points. We will see how strong we are because teams always show in the bad moments", Guardiola added. "I'm optimistic because the way we reacted at 3-2 against Stoke was so good."

Last season, City won their opening 10 matches before an alarming dip in October undermined Guardiola's plans. The Catalan manager remains cautious this time around: "When everything is going well, and you’re winning by three or four, okay it’s important, but it doesn’t count for much. How you do in the bad moments is important.", he said. "I am waiting for that moment. How does the team react?".