The lack of a proper pre-season and no fans in stadiums has seemingly taken its toll on a number of teams across Europe, with some potential title favourites still not really getting going 11 games into the season.
Barcelona are a case in point in La Liga, but closer to home, Manchester City are down in ninth position having already failed to win on six occasions domestically.
It’s certainly not the form we’ve become used to from Pep Guardiola’s swashbucklers, however, striker Raheem Sterling believes that City don’t yet have anything to worry about.
“The end goal is to get through this period,” he said on BBC Radio Five Live, cited by BBC Sport.
“We need to keep fighting, we’ll get there in the end. We haven’t been up to our usual standards and that’s another reason we haven’t scored enough goals.
“I’m confident in the next couple of games we’ll start firing back and I can get those numbers back up too. Sometimes you win games 1-0 and it feels like you’ve lost, that’s how unusual it is for us to win 1-0.
“We’re a team every year who are thinking we should be competing for the league and be up there, but at the end of the day we’ve had circumstances that have been difficult like everyone else.
“We’re not out of it and we’re still in touching distance. We know how vital this period is.
“Things can take a turn for it and that’s what we’re banking on. There’s not been a point in the season where I thought we’re finished. I’ve got belief that we’re going to come good.”
With games coming thick and fast again in the new year, clearly Man City are going to have to get their act together sooner rather than later.
If the first-team squad can steer clear of injuries and Guardiola is allowed to dip into the club’s vast financial resource again in January, then there’s every chance that City will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the campaign.