There’s something about Manchester City fans that (and believe me that I say this in the nicest possible way) is delightfully different to supporters of other football clubs out there.

Perhaps it’s years of cynicism that has done the damage, but if there’s one collective that genuinely -- absolutely, completely and totally -- believes that anything that can go wrong will go wrong for their team, it’s those who visit the Etihad every other week.

Following Chelsea’s defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, the mood was high among the Sky Blues’ supporters; it meant City had the chance to close in on the then league leaders.

Several hours later -- after the 1-1 draw at Arsenal -- the mood was optimistic, but slightly downbeat, with the general feeling being that City didn’t capitalise fully on the opportunity they were given. They’d narrowed the gap on Chelsea, but only by a point.

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Meanwhile, compare and contrast the reaction to that of the Anfield faithful as Liverpool went on to demolish Tottenham on Sunday afternoon. “We’re gonna win the league,” they sang, clearly much too prematurely with so many variables that can change in the final six weeks of the season. But confidence is brimming on Merseyside and with good reason, given how the Reds have been performing in recent weeks.

Nevertheless, that difference in mentality between the crowds doesn’t really make sense. While Liverpool fans are confident and happy to play up to the idea of winning the league; City fans are nervous and dreading the run-in for fear of their side messing it all up.

Both clubs are playing excellent football and are on a run of fine form; Liverpool have taken 35 points (11 wins, two draws) from their last 15 games, while, on the same time scale, City have clocked up 38 points (12 wins, two draws).

The only discrepancy is that City beat Liverpool at Eastlands last December.

With both clubs still having the outcome of the title in their own hands, both should have reason to be confident, yet still there’s the lingering fear that Liverpool are going to do it.

(So Sod’s law probably dictates that it’s Chelsea who’ll come out of the wilderness with a late push, even though they’re now in a position where they need favours from elsewhere.)

Neither side will have it easy given their remaining fixtures. City fans will always be nervous of the prospect of Merseyside away games -- with trips to both Liverpool and Everton on the horizon -- given their recent record at Anfield and Goodison Park.

Meanwhile, Liverpool must face Chelsea as well as City, so they’re not exactly flagging down a black cab on Easy Street just yet either.

Pellegrini's men trail Liverpool by four points with two games in hand.

The positive for Manuel Pellegrini is that four of his last six games are at home and against sides that are currently residing in the bottom half of the table. The other plus point is that, if both sides win all of their games but then draw against each other, that would give the advantage to the visitors to Anfield on that Sunday. Mind you, that’s still a big if.

But this is why City’s supporters are brilliantly left-field of any other club’s. Liverpool fans aren’t worried about chanting the likes of “We’re gonna win the league” because their side is in a strong position to be able to back up their claims.

Meanwhile, those in the Etihad won’t go near the song because they’re worried it would jinx any title hopes their club has. No, they know it will jinx them.

They had a close shave with it in 2012, having sung that exact chant at Newcastle in the penultimate match of the season, as Yaya Toure netted his second in a 2-0 win.

It meant a home win against relegation-threatened QPR would secure the league title and we all know how that nearly went wrong, with a dramatic rescue job required to provide a brilliant solution to a problem that should never have existed in the first place.

The City fans don’t dare to dream because they’re seen their side knocked out of the FA Cup by a balloon. They’ve seen their side hold the ball by the corner flag to preserve a result that wasn’t good enough to save them from relegation.

They’ve seen their side play two goalkeepers -- one up front -- in an attempt to try to get into the UEFA Cup, leaving a striker on the bench in the process. They’ve seen mistake after mistake at Maine Road and at Eastlands, and they know this title race will not be over until it is mathematically impossible for whoever is on top of the table to be deposed.

It’s a law of the universe when being a Manchester City fan: When the team was rubbish, you dare not dream. Now the team is good, you still dare not dream, just in case.

Will Typical City ever go away? Never in the minds of supporters, at least although, I think deep down, not one of them would have it any other way. It may make the home straight of the season unbearable and it may shorten fans’ life expectancies when there’s yet another disaster in the pipeline, but, if nothing else, it gives the club a charm.

Any other fanbase in City’s position at this stage of the season would be feeling confident. City’s are dreading it.