This exact week last year, Manchester City drew two matches. One at Nottingham Forest, another in Leipzig. Erling Haaland was guilty of missing chances he apparently never misses. Cheap goals conceded. City were at something of a crossroads.

So much so, that our report read ‘nothing is coming particularly easy for them at the moment’ and 12 months on, very little has changed in the general dynamic of a February where title rivals seem to be becoming stronger by the week and the serial winners need to dig deep to locate desire that has dragged them to so much gold.