It is the kind of start every manager hopes for after a summer of preparation: momentum, control and a perfect record to open a Premier League season. Since the competition began in 1992, several sides have produced dream runs that hinted at title glory, only for history to remind everyone that August and September do not decide championships.

One of the most recent examples came from Manchester City in 2023-24. Rodri’s late goal at newly promoted Sheffield United kept their start on track after opening with two wins, and Pep Guardiola’s team then beat Burnley and Newcastle United without conceding before overcoming Fulham and West Ham United. Their run ended at Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 7, with Arsenal defeating them the following week as well. Even so, City then went on a remarkable 23-match unbeaten stretch, including 11 straight victories to close the season and claim a fourth successive title.

Liverpool’s 2018-19 start under Jürgen Klopp carried similar promise. With Alisson and Fabinho arriving in the summer, the Reds won their first six league matches, including victories over West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion without conceding. A statement win at Tottenham Hotspur followed before Chelsea ended the perfect start at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool would not lose again until Jan. 3, yet a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium proved decisive, and they finished on 97 points without the title.

Guardiola’s first Manchester City campaign also featured six straight wins, although doubts soon surfaced. Their record included just one clean sheet, and a 2-0 defeat at Spurs pointed to problems that later showed up regularly. City dropped as low as fifth in January before recovering to third and securing Champions League qualification, setting the stage for the ‘Centurions.’

Chelsea’s early run under Carlo Ancelotti was built on a similar pattern of fast starts and later pressure. Didier Drogba’s strike helped them beat Hull City on opening weekend, and they followed with six straight victories, capped by a familiar win over Spurs at the Bridge. After two defeats in their next three matches and a draw with Blackburn Rovers in March, seven wins from the next eight, including a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford, carried them to the title by a single point.

Newcastle United’s 1994-95 season under Kevin Keegan was explosive from the outset. They scored 22 times across their first six wins and remained unbeaten until Gameweek 12, with the ‘Entertainers’ capturing the imagination even if the finish fell away. A miserable winter followed, and Newcastle ended the campaign in sixth.

This season, another perfect start has arrived at Manchester City. With seven wins from seven, including victories at Man Utd and Liverpool and high-scoring wins over Sunderland and Ipswich Town, they have again set the early pace, even with off-field scrutiny hanging over them.

Statistics can flatter a player long after the finer details of a match have been forgotten, and Florian Wirtz provided a clear example on Saturday. A single eye-catching number suggested a towering display, but the reality was more complicated than that.

Wirtz did not produce the kind of performance that the raw data seemed to imply. He was useful rather than devastating, and his influence only grew after Yehor Yarmoliuk was sent off just before half-time. Even then, much of the credit attached to Wirtz came from a statistic that deserves a closer inspection.

For much of the game, the Liverpool No. 7 was asked to probe a compact Brentford defence. He drifted into the right halfspace, looking for gaps, but too often his contributions became sideways or backward passes that led to speculative efforts. That pattern defined many of the chances he was credited with creating.

One of the most striking details was that several of those chances came from corners, a reminder of Liverpool’s wider set-piece problems this season. They remain one of only four Premier League sides yet to score from a set piece, despite having collected 18 last season under Arne Slot.

There was still merit in Wirtz’s play. He showed neat touch and awareness in the move that led to Víctor Muñoz’s equaliser, helping move the ball into a dangerous area before Muñoz finished. It was not a straightforward assist in the purest sense, but it did matter at a time when Liverpool were still behind and struggling to break the rhythm of the match.

Wirtz’s official return from the game is his latest reminder of how deceptive modern numbers can be. His 11th assist since joining Liverpool last summer has him second only to Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki for open play assists among Premier League players over the same period, yet the wider picture still asks more questions than it answers.

Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer has praised Florian Wirtz while making clear that the club are not planning a move for the Liverpool midfielder.

Wirtz’s early months in England have not matched the standards he set before arriving at Anfield, and that has drawn criticism from both supporters and rivals. Manager Andoni Iraola has also had to deal with pressure from calls to leave the German international out of the starting line-up.

Even with speculation around a possible switch back to Bayern, Hainer chose to shut down the idea. He described Wirtz as a top player, but stressed that Bayern are satisfied with their current squad and do not see the 23-year-old as a target.

“First of all, I think Florian Wirtz is an outstanding player, there’s absolutely no question about that,” Hainer said.

“I almost feel a little sorry for him that he hasn’t yet reached the same form in England that he had at Leverkusen, because we also need him for the German national team.

“[Bayern] have such a top-class squad, we’re incredibly happy at the moment, and therefore [a transfer] not an issue for us.”

Liverpool have had to wait for Wirtz to rediscover the level he showed at Leverkusen, where he finished his final season with 16 goals and 15 assists. He has not come close to those numbers in his 18 months at Anfield.

The expectations have been sharpened by the $158 million fee attached to his move. Liverpool believed they were signing one of Europe’s leading attackers, while Bayern were left disappointed after missing out on his signature. Hainer’s comments now underline how much his stock has shifted in little more than a year and a half.