Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini believes ending Chelsea’s 100 percent Premier League record would mean his side had made a decent start to their defence of the English title.

City haven’t won since overwhelming Liverpool, last season’s runners-up, 3-1 on August Bank Holiday Monday with what looked at the time a benchmark performance.

Since then, they have lost at home to Stoke, drawn at Arsenal and lost to a last-minute goal at Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.

Another defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday would allow Chelsea to extend their advantage over the champions to eight points.

But Pellegrini prefers to look at the other side of the equation as he tries to get the better of old foe Jose Mourinho, who masterminded a classic 1-0 win at City in February as part of a double over the champions last season.

“They (Chelsea) have started very well. They are playing very well also,” Pellegrini said Friday. “I think that we didn’t start badly, although maybe the game we lost here against Stoke was an unusual game.

“I think we were unlucky in the last two games, against Bayern in the way we lost with that goal and against Arsenal we deserved to win the three points but things happen,” the Chilean added.

“We hope we recover here playing at home and get three points on Sunday.

“I always try to think of positives so I hope we are not going to lose and we not going to go eight points behind Chelsea.

“We must win our next game at home and with that we will be two points behind the leader and that for me will be a very good start after playing Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.”