Where does Manchester City's Premier League winning run rank?

Pep Guardiola's side have gone 13 league games without dropping a point and would equal Arsenal's 14-game run (set across two seasons in 2002) with a win against rivals Manchester United.

But are there other criteria by which to judge a winning run besides the number of victories? From the 11 winning runs of 10 games or more in the Premier League, here are the most impressive based on attack, defence, and difficulty of opposition.

Goals per game

While City have clearly been entertaining the crowds with their attacking verve, theirs is not the most thrilling roller-coaster of an unbeaten run - that honour belongs to Liverpool.

In one of the more absorbing title races in recent memory, the Reds won 11 successive games under Brendan Rodgers towards the end of the 2013-14 season, and did so scoring at 3.5 goals per game - only Manchester United's 12-game streak in 2000 and City's current run (both 3.3 goals scored per game) come close.

Scorelines such as 5-1, 4-3 and 6-3 adorned the run, before a 2-0 defeat by Jose Mourinho's Chelsea scuppered Liverpool's title chances.

Goals conceded

Liverpool's 2014 streak was defined by goals, but their 2005-06 side were built on a rock-solid defence.

Having drawn four of their first five league games, before losing two of their next three, Rafael Benitez's men lifted themselves to third by Christmas courtesy of a winning run in which they conceded just once in 10 games - a rate of 0.1 goals per game, compared with the 1.4 goals per game they conceded in their 2014 streak.

That might have something to do with the fact Liverpool's run was statistically the easiest, with none of the teams they faced finishing in the top six that year.

Goal difference

City's current run could well surpass Arsenal's record of 14 consecutive wins, but in many ways it is already superior.

Averaging 3.3 goals scored per game, and 0.7 conceded, City's average goal difference of +2.6 per game is the best of the lot, beating United's +2.4 per game achieved in 2000.

City have also scored 12 goals more than Arsenal did during their 14-game winning streak, despite playing one game fewer.

Two 5-0 wins, a 6-0 win away at Watford and a 7-2 win against Stoke have helped fire the Manchester side eight points clear at the top of the table.

Difficulty of opposition

Chelsea's run of 13 wins in the first half of the 2016-17 season came against statistically the hardest opposition - their beaten opponents finished on average 10.8th that season, compared to Liverpool's run in 2005-06 where their opponents finished on average 13.8th.

Beating reigning champions Leicester, hammering Manchester United 4-0, pipping Spurs 2-1 and then beating Manchester City 3-1 at the Etihad was enough to suggest Antonio Conte's men might just run away with the title.

Defeat to Tottenham ended the Blues' run in the new year, but five more consecutive wins at the end of the season ensured Chelsea sealed their fifth Premier League title with time to spare.

Kings of the 1-0

The lowest-scoring winning streak comes from the Manchester United crop of 2009, who went 11 games unbeaten while scoring at just 1.9 goals per game from December 2008 to March 2009.

Three 1-0 victories kicked things off for Sir Alex Ferguson's side at the turn of the year - United had already gone five games without conceding before their winning streak commenced - before Liverpool ended their dominance with a 4-1 win at Old Trafford.

Edwin van der Sar broke the record for minutes without conceding (1,311) during the streak, with United's 11-game run eventually including six 1-0 wins.