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Sitting six points adrift of eventual champions Chelsea after 10 games, Manchester City’s defence of their Premier League was in trouble almost from the get go.

And that will doubtless be in Manuel Pellegrini mind as he assesses the new season’s fixture list.

Jose Mourinho’s side sprinted out of the blocks in much the same way as Chelsea won their previous two titles under him in his first tenure at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho’s tactic of leading from the front prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to rethink his own strategy - and Pellegrini will know he can ill-afford to hand the defending champions another head start.

While City managed to restore parity with Chelsea by the turn of the year, their inconsistency in the first half of the campaign left them with no room for error.

And Mourinho capitalised on their failings in the New Year, with Chelsea ultimately cantering the title with an eight-point advantage.

Looking back on the first 10 games of last season it is the defeats to Stoke at home and West Ham away that stand out.

City were handed a tough start with games against Liverpool, Arsenal Chelsea, Tottenham and United.

But they recorded a return of 11 points from those five games without defeat.

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Which is why the 1-0 loss to Stoke at the Etihad was such a shock - and the 2-1 defeat against West Ham at Upton Park left them playing catch up.

The clash with Chelsea in the second game of the new season looms large.

It will be billed as an early six-pointer and indicator to the way the title race may go - but judging by last year, the trip to Crystal Palace on September 12 presents a potential banana skin for Pellegrini’s side.

For that matter early games against newly-promoted Watford Bournemouth should be approached with caution too.

Pellegrini has identified the dropped points against last season’s relegated sides as being a major factor in their failure to mount a genuine challenge to Chelsea.

They picked up just one point from a possible six against Burnley, were held to a draw at bottom-placed QPR and dropped two more points at home to Hull.

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On paper City’s first 10 games of the new season represent few fears - even if Chelsea in the second week of the campaign is sooner than would be ideal.

Victory, however, would put Pellegrini’s title bid in the ascendency almost right from the start.

Defeat on the other hand would leave the Chilean playing catch-up with Mourinho once more.

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