It became instantly apparent within the first two minutes of Manchester City’s 5-0 win over Swansea that Pep Guardiola’s men will not be taking their foot off the gas despite having already wrapped up the Premier League title.
The dominance and effort the players put in was exactly the same as it has been all season and it should come as no surprise. Pep Guardiola is not a manager who ever lets his players put their feet up.
As expected there were minutes for some players on the fringes of the squad but not until the job in hand had been taken care of.
City now need only five goals from their last four games to eclipse Chelsea’s record of 103 in 2009/10.
They also need five points from those games to beat the current record of 95, also held by Chelsea in 2004/05.
Two wins in their remaining two away fixtures would also earn City another record, becoming the first team to win 16 away games in a Premier League season.
That starts this Sunday with their trip to the London Stadium to play West Ham United. The Hammers are not quite guaranteed their Premier League status yet and come into the game off the back of a heavy 4-1 defeat to Arsenal.
They will also be without goalkeeper Joe Hart who is on loan from their opponents and therefore ineligible to play. Although quite how much of a disappointment that is open to debate.
For City, Leroy Sane was an unused substitute in the win over Swansea so could well return to the starting XI this weekend.
The game may well be too early for John Stones to return from injury, but England fans will be hoping he can get some minutes under his belt before the end of the season with him seemingly such an integral part of Gareth Southgate’s plans for the World Cup in Russia.
The 23-year-old centre-back has not played for club nor country since England's 1-1 draw with Italy on 27 March due to an abductor injury.
Benjamin Mendy could make his first start since September after coming on as a substitute last weekend.
Youngsters Brahim Diaz and Phil Foden also still need a handful of appearances to qualify for a Premier League medal.
With fixtures to come against Huddersfield, Brighton and Southampton it isn’t looking good for the teams at the bottom who hoped City may have one eye on the summer and afford them valuable points.
