Defender Vincent Kompany has said that Manchester City are under no illusions regarding the difficulty of retaining the Premier League title.
City achieved a record number of points in winning the top-flight crown last season, but no club have won successive titles since Manchester United did in 2008 and 2009.
Pep Guardiola's side are favourites to break that streak, but Kompany has acknowledged that he and his teammates must try to learn from the mistakes made by past champions.
The 32-year-old told The Telegraph: "I think everyone has been warned enough as well. No team in the last nine seasons has been able to repeat and win the league. There's been so many warnings we have had and every single time we almost have to fight against ourselves and our nature, not to fall in the same trap as the other teams have done – my team included a few years ago.
"I can see that everyone is training hard. There's so much competition in the team that we have to, anyway. You are never guaranteed to win the league, but if we can compete then we will have done something that no other team has done [in] the last nine years."
City currently top the standings after two games with wins being recorded over Arsenal and Huddersfield Town.
