Manchester City began 2021 by setting a new record in English football and they could end the year in similar style.
Pep Guardiola's side won 12 league games between the start of January and March to claim a new marker for the most top-flight victories at the beginning of a calendar year, comfortably eclipsing the previous best of nine set by Bolton Wanderers in 1904 and Manchester United in 2009.
That run of results helped propel the Blues clear at the top of the Premier League as they claimed a third title in four years. And a continuation of those high standards see City top the table again as the halfway point of the 2021/22 campaign fast approaches, leading Liverpool by one point and Chelsea by two points.
Those two teams are also in City sights for another reason as Guardiola's side close in on another record.
They have so far chalked up 31 league wins in the calendar year, with matches against Wolves, Leeds, Newcastle, Leicester, and Brentford to come in the rest of December. Two victories from those five games will see them eclipse Chelsea's best of 32 set in 2005, while three will see them overtake Liverpool (33 in 1982) and set another English top-flight record.
City and Liverpool jointly hold the record for the most league wins in a season with 32 - City did this in consecutive years in the 17/18 and 18/19 campaigns while Liverpool did it a year later - and the pair also have the longest run of consecutive league wins with 18.
