Whilst in terms of the season it is still very early days in England, Pep Guardiola and his men have the chance to go one step closer to yet another trophy, and one step closer to an unprecedented quadruple, as Manchester City face Fulham this evening in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
A packed schedule
When fighting on all fronts, one of the main negatives is the pile-up of fixtures that come your way, which is a problem that City are facing at the moment. Guardiola has an abundance of talent available at his disposal, and will most likely use this fixture to rotate his side.
Ilkay Gundogan could return for City, bolstering the Blues midfield options, and also potentially giving a rest to the likes of Fernandinho.
Fabian Delph is also back in contention for this one, whilst Danilo and Claudio Bravo remain long-term absentees.
In the last round youngsters Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz and Oleksandr Zinchenko all featured, and rotations are expected again by Guardiola.
Manchester City predicted XI: Ederson; Walker, Komany, Stones, Zinchenko; Gundogan, de Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Jesus, Sane.
Youngster Zinchenko has also been interviewed by the clubs official website this week, possibly handing a further indication that he will have some involvement.
"Of course, we have a lot of players who didn't play last few weeks, and everyone wants to get the chance to show yourself, show your maximum," started the left back.
"It's going to be a tough game because Fulham play well. They are defensively organised very well, and always against them it is not so easy. We are Man City, that's why for us every competition is so important."
A rare shot at silverware for Fulham?
Fulham have experienced a successful time as of late, winning the Championship play-offs to reach the Premier League, as well as landing a long list of summer targets.
Despite this, the club hasn’t won a major trophy since 2002, defeating City would give them the belief that they could make recent years even better.
As a result of this, the Londoners are less likely to field a weakened side, and could look to go with a strong 11.
They will, however, be without the suspended Kevin McDonald as well as the injured Joe Bryan.
Fulham predicted XI: Fabri; Christie, Mawson, Chambers, Le Marchand; Anguissa, Johansen, Cariney; de la Torre, Mitrovic, Sessegnon.
Attacking brilliance vs defensive vulnerability
Fulham, have the worst defensive record in the top flight, conceding 15 times in just their last four games – something manager Slavisa Jokanovic is keen to put right
"If you observe the situation, we try to change some things," stated the Serbian. "We didn't find a good answer but we know it's not enough and we aren't doing a good job, we must push forward, adapt ourselves and be more solid."
Jokanovic’s side will undoubtedly be put to test in this one and will have to stand strong against one of the best attacking sides in Europe in order to cause any sort of upset here.
In recent meetings, this fixture has proved a total landslide, with City winning all six of their previous meetings, including a 3-0 victory at the Etihad in September.
Although, as everybody knows, cup competitions can often spark the biggest surprises, and the Fulham faithful will be hoping they can come up with one of the shocks of the round, as a place in the last eight looms to face either Leicester City or Southampton.