There's a funny feeling around Manchester City fans at the moment. Despite a top-flight record 13-point Christmas Day lead in the Premier League, an English-record 17 league victories in a row and a level of football that's been above anything the supporters have ever seen at the club, nobody is relaxed about the remainder of the season to come.
It's an unprecedented position for City to be in. In their history, they've never led the top flight by a bigger margin at any stage of a campaign. Nor has any team scored as many Premier League goals in a calendar year as City have -- they became the first to score a century in the 4-0 win over Bournemouth -- or earned as many points in the first half of the season.
Other fan bases would be beginning to ask questions like "when will we win the league?" or "by how many points will we take the title?". City's is still nervous that their side might mess this up and become the biggest laughing stocks in history, rather than building on this platform to dominate a season in a way never seen before. This could be one of the most iconic Premier League campaigns of all-time, but City fans won't relax until it's mathematically over.
Years of disappointment and self-destruction will do that to even the most optimistic of supporters. They won't entertain the debates over whether City will finish the season unbeaten (they probably won't) and whether this is the greatest side the Premier League has seen (19 games in is no such time to be making that judgement, before anything is won).
It's extraordinary to think that supporters may start to get a little jittery when City next drop points if their lead at the top of the table is cut. The bar has been set so high this season that anything less than a win in any fixture is beginning to make fans wonder if something is beginning to go wrong.
The evidence would suggest that City are capable of beating all comers this season. Opponents have tried defending deep, cutting out spaces, pressing high, closing down Guardiola's so-called "weak links" in defence, even taking a leaf out of the "rough 'em up" style guide and trying to kick City off the pitch. Whatever has happened, the league leaders have found a way to get past it and, in 18 of their 19 matches so far, win.
Even with a trip to Newcastle on Wednesday, supporters aren't allowing themselves to get too excited. The Magpies are one of City's favourite opponents, having lost all but one of their last 13 Premier League meetings. It was a 1-1 draw at St James' Park that stemmed the tide when Manuel Pellegrini took his side there in 2015-16 -- before that it had been 12 wins on the bounce for the current league leaders against the Geordies.
Man City's win over Bournemouth was their record 17th straight victory. Conor Molloy/Action Plus via Getty Images
It's been 12 years since Newcastle took maximum points off City, winning 1-0 in the North East in Sept. 2005. There are few signs of that changing, too -- Rafa Benitez's team are bang out of form and their 3-2 win at West Ham on Saturday was their first victory after a run of nine without. History certainly appears to be on Pep Guardiola's side.
As if things couldn't already get worse for Newcastle, Sergio Aguero appears to be back in form. Beyond netting from the penalty spot, the forward has only struck three times from open play since he broke the club's scoring record in the 4-2 win at Napoli on Nov 1. All three have come in the last fortnight, signalling that Aguero could be about to go on another run.
What will encourage City fans is that the striker loves to play against Newcastle. His 11 goals against the Magpies is his best return against a single team, just ahead of his 10 against both Tottenham and Chelsea.
If it's true that Manchester United do have the hardest Christmas fixture list, then it could be the festive season where City are able to take advantage. Many view the title race as done and dusted, even if the club's fans are still wary of counting their chickens too soon, and Guardiola couldn't have hand-picked a better set of games in which to assert his dominance.
Following the game at Newcastle, City go to Crystal Palace and host Watford over the New Year's weekend. Even as the schedule gets hectic in January, things could have been worse: Bristol City in the Carabao Cup semifinals was the best draw available, while a home FA Cup tie to Burnley is more favourable than it might have been.
It's been an extraordinary opening to the season for Guardiola and if City is able to continue its winning streak in the final two matches of 2017, he'll match his own European record for consecutive victories.
The future is looking very bright and City fans can take a moment to relax and enjoy it.
Source: espn.co.uk