Watching Manchester City at the moment is a slightly curious business. Up front, they're all speed and vim, rapid passing matched with even more rapid running. A front five of Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, David Silva and Leroy Sane is, to say the least, impressive. You know things are in decent shape when Sergio Aguero is a useful reserve and Kelechi Iheanacho, scorer of six goals in nine starts, can barely get a sniff.
But at the back it's a different story. Of the Premier League's top seven, only Liverpool have a worse defensive record than them, and Middlesbrough, 16th and two points off the relegation zone, have conceded two goals fewer.