I take this with a pinch of salt, a few days ago City's % improved 5% ish because they beat fucking Arsenal.

I think the public facing stats lads generally having a nightmare this season or so.

Their models love City, whenever they smash some shit team at home their SPI bounces like crazy.

But their defence has been the 'same' as ours for ages, perhaps even better last season!

Who the fuck is watching us and City this season and saying they are comparable defences. I get both sides conceding more regularly but we rarely concede two, they do it frequently now... and to bang average sides.

I think the reality is these models, and the stats weirdos who make them, are decent guides but only that. There's a lot of evangical crowing about their models but think the fact it's been months of us 'outperforming our XG' and City, the team the model says is invincible, losing by multiple goals to midtable sides tells you they aren't really as good as they seem to think they are.

Plus a lot of them, not naming names, come off as a smug and it's funny watching us in our current position and watch it dawn on them that their models aren't perfect.