not afraid to take a risk."

Guardiola's side have 35 goals in 10 league games, 12 more than second-placed Manchester United, who they lead by five points. City face Arsenal at home on Sunday at 14:15 GMT.

Spaniard Guardiola still believes Sterling must improve his final ball but what do the stats say about his season so far?

There were hints Sterling was peripheral to Guardiola's plans earlier this year when he was a reported makeweight in a deal to bring Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez to the Etihad Stadium.

It has been some turnaround as the former Liverpool man already has seven league goals - as many as he has hit in a season at the club before.

Sterling's current rate of scoring - 1.25 goals per 90 minutes - far eclipses figures ofstay there, to improve, to practise, to shoot at the goalkeepers. It's part of the mentality he needs."

And the hard work on finding goalscoring positions appears to be paying off. Sterling has already had 18 shots inside the penalty area this season, compared to 43 across 33 league games last season.

He may not have the build of a target man but he's getting right there in the mixer.

Despite his fine return, Sterling has actually been less accurate with his shooting this season, finding the target 47% of the time compared to 52% last season and 61% in 2015-16.

But Guardiola's eye for improvement has honed in on another aspect of Sterling's role in a City side which sits five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

"His final