Unstoppable. Invincible, apparently.
Manchester City's start to the season has been remarkable, even record-breaking in places.
They are on the joint best start to a top-flight English season since Tottenham won their first 11 matches in 1960/61. If a triumph in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw qualifies as a win, they are on a club record run of 15 straight victories. They are on course to finish with 107 points and 133 goals. They have prompted questions whether anyone can halt them, either over 90 minutes or 38 matches.
"If they have decisions at home like that, they will be unstoppable," said Arséne Wenger, raging against an offside goal and a correctly awarded penalty after Arsenal's 3-1 defeat last Sunday.
Yet the predictions are premature at best, ludicrous at worst. History suggests the Citizens will probably stumble somewhere during the obstacle course of a season, and not merely because they have not even faced their two closest challengers, Manchester United and Tottenham, yet. They could be caught.
There are City-specific reasons.
They are already fielding a midfielder at leftback because Benjamin Mendy's season has been curtailed and, as superbly as Fabian Delph is doing, there has to be the chance an opponent will find a way of turning him into a weak link. Another injury would mean Pep Guardiola is reduced to his third-choice leftback.
Nor, arguably, do they have sufficient cover in the middle of defence. With Vincent Kompany sidelined and Nicolas Otamendi banned for the Leicester City match on Saturday, Eliaquim Mangala is poised to step in. City are one injury away from the Frenchman, who was abject against Wolves in the Carabao Cup, featuring more often.
Even Otamendi, while improved this season, remains erratic. He was tormented by Mohamed Salah for 45 minutes in September. In goal they are one injury away from recalling Claudio Bravo.
City have more strength in depth in the front six positions, but there is no duplicate of Fernandinho in their squad. Nobody else can quite replicate Kevin de Bruyne's contribution. An injury to either would be interesting. And a brand of football that ambitious might need to be executed near perfectly to work: When City were not as slick, a second-string Wolves side kept them out for 120 minutes.
Then there are the general reasons why any team can flounder: They can encounter an in-form goalkeeper or an opponent who produces a moment of magic. In a match, they could fall victim to ill-fortune, whether a decision or a deflection.
And this is why the notion they could be the new Invincibles is so wild.
"Someone will beat us," Guardiola said last Friday. The fact that Wenger's team of 2003/04 are the only side since 1889 to complete an English league season unbeaten illustrates its rarity and its difficulty. The issue should not even be raised before January.
Tottenham went on a longer unbeaten run at the start of last season. So did Chelsea in 2014/15, City themselves in 2012/13 and Liverpool in 2007/08. Only one of those four sides even won the title.
No wonder Manchester United's boss José Mourinho said on Sunday that an eight-point advantage "is not the same as eight points in the Portuguese league, La Liga, the Bundesliga"...