Much has been written about our good fortune, but its high time it was pointed out that we have only fielded our strongest starting eleven in one league match this season, and even then the formation had to be changed after 50 minutes. I refer here to the Arsenal fixture.
You could, of course, argue that leagues are won by squads, not teams, and Pellegrini would never be foolish or impolite enough to admit that we have been unfortunate, since doing so would demean the value and contribution of other players, especially when those players have contributed so effectively. Nevertheless, ours has been an injury-ravaged season, and I would love to see the following team play four consecutive league matches, though the opposing managers would most certainly not.
Hart
Zabaleta
Kolarov/Clichy (really cannot split them)
Kompany
Demichelis
Nasri
Toure
Fernandinho
Silva
Aguero
Negredo