Kevin De Bruyne believes that Man City might be able to 'win this season with 85 points' ahead of what is set to be another thrilling Premier League title race with Liverpool.
After City finished a massive 19 points clear of their nearest opposition in the year prior, lasts season saw the league go down to the final day as Jurgen Klopp's side pushed the Blues all the way.
City would become the first team to retain the title in a decade by a single point, but they were pushed all the way by Liverpool who finished on the highest point tally every registered by a team finishing in second place.
It has been a remarkable two years, with City picking 198 points points out of a possible 228 points available.
It's been an unprecedented level of consistent success for City, but De Bruyne believes it won't take quite as much to win the league in this coming season.
"We don't need to beat the last two seasons - maybe we can win this season with 85 points," the Belgian told Sky Sports .
"It is not about improving, it is about staying consistent, trying to be there every game, trying to win every game.
"It is not always about doing better, because how can you do better sometimes?
"To win every year what we won the last two years is going to be pretty difficult but it is good to be there."
De Bruyne is raring to get going after spending the majority of last season on the sidelines after being plagued by injury.
The playmaker has been getting back to his best in pre-season and looks set to once again take the league by storm and he has opened up on what he's done to prepare for this season.
"I did nothing for three weeks. I just wanted to be away from football," he added.
"I had been playing for two years straight. I just wanted to enjoy myself a little bit.
"Physically you can be okay but I think it is more mentally. It is tough to go two years straight for everybody and not have a proper break. That is what happened the last two years.
"Now I felt for myself that is was necessary to just slow it down a little bit and go again in pre-season. I knew I would have enough time now to prepare myself for the season, so that's what I decided to do."
