So blinkered, they're discounting us and I think they're in for a rude awakening
I certainly wouldn't discount anyone, certainly not Liverpool. I think most perhaps discounted you this season, an that very nearly backfired.
I also don't take it as a given there won't be a slight drop off from us. I already tried to say to BBA that football is a weird game, that just when you think you have it sussed, it can mite you right in the arse.
I get why we should be here, and that's the triangle of Gabriel, Saliba and Rice. We've been built on solid foundations, not only least goals conceded, but every metric like xg conceded, chances created against, shots faced etc has us a team very difficult to play against.
Of course, as has been pointed out, we've not had to deal with any injuries to those 3 in last season. Thankfully we know they are robust, and don't have a history of struggling to stay fit, like someone like Konate might have. But all it takes is an awkward fall, a horror tackle to derail that (look at Timber first game of the season this season, he's missed the full campaign consequently.)
So yeah, let's see what the summer brings. We have a few areas w need in terms of obvious improvement, left back being a weakness but Timber was meant to address that, a long term partner for Rice, and at least 1 more forward. I don't want to disrupt things too much though, as City have made it perfectly obvious you can't start slow, as well as you can't finish slow, and as @Achilles Heel's analysis shows, you can't afford any sort of slight dip in the season now whatsoever. It's feckin difficult to break that 90 point barrier needed, we've remained unbeaten against the 'big 6' this season and still not managed it, I'll certainly be surprised if we manage that for a 2nd successive season. Yeah, City have made the league very fun, basically removing all the twists and turns out it that helped make the league so exciting in the first place. Good times indeed.
