Preston fans might have gone a little pale after seeing Manchester City stick eight past Watford at the weekend.
But Bernardo Silva – who scored three of that remarkable haul – has warned his Blue teammates that they are likely to be in for a much tougher ride against the Lilywhites.
City racked up an astonishing English record of 169 goals in all competitions last season, and already have 28 in just eight games in the current campaign.
And after beating Burton Albion 9-0 in the semi-finals of last season’s Carabao Cup, Preston could be forgiven for wondering if they are next, as City begin their defence of the trophy.
But Bernardo thinks that Preston, currently lying in a promotion play-off spot in the Championship, will be difficult opponents.
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The Portugal international was concerned enough to check Preston’s record this season – they are unbeaten in six and have already seen off Bradford and Hull in the competition.
“We want to win, but we are away to a team that – I have checked – are doing well this season,” said Bernardo.
“People sometimes think games against Championship teams are easy, but they’re not.
“In the last two seasons I have played for City, some of the most difficult games we have had were against teams from the Championship, and in our first season we were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wigan from League One.
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“We are not going to relax, we will give our best as usual.”
Bernardo was not kidding. In 2017-18 the Blues were held goalless by a bold Wolves side at the Etihad Stadium before winning on penalties, and were then given an almighty scare by Bristol City in both legs of the semi-final.
Then last season the Blues had to come from two goals behind to beat Swansea in the FA Cup, while their 4-1 win at League Two side Newport was much harder than the scoreline suggests.
