4 Man City winners and 2 losers heading into the international break
Manchester City's start to the 2026/27 season is difficult to quibble with. The team hasn't lost a match. The only issues entering the international break would be nitpicky.
Still, let's be a tad bit nitpicky, but only about one player who has struggled in form for quite some time and another who was hurt and couldn't help the team win. Both of those are listed below and should be better later in the season.
City has 15 points from five matches and sits atop the Premier League table, three points clear of Arsenal. That is, of course, fantastic, but there is a lot of football left to play before the season ends.
Winners and losers from Manchester City's sensational start to the 2026/27 season
Winner: Enzo Maresca
By far the biggest winner of the blistering start is the manager. Many might have worried that Pep Guardiola stepping away would set the team back quite a bit. That could still happen in the long run, of course, but it definitely hasn't so far. No one can be more perfect than, well...perfect.
Whereas Guardiola was a magician at adjusting shapes, Maresca's approach is more traditional. That has certainly helped players like Antoine Semenyo, who appears to be more confident in what he is trying to do. Other squads will adjust eventually, and then so will Maresca. The middle of the season should be telling.
Loser: Phil Foden
Foden is arguably the City player who has struggled the most over the last season-plus. After scoring in December 2025, he didn't have another goal the rest of last season. He does have a couple of assists this season, but no goals. He simply seems to be in a funk and can't get himself out of it.
Even worse, he lost control of his emotions against Manchester United, drew a red card, and was suspended for three matches for kicking his feet into the stomach of Bruno Fernandes. Could Fernandes have drawn a red card too for kicking Foden in the back? Sure, but Foden still overreacted and was the one punished.
Winner: Ryan Cherki
What a ridiculous good start Cherki has had. He has been efficiently elite, with three goals on nine shots. That is a better ratio than even the next player on this list has. Cherki has also been so smooth when in control of the ball that he appears to cut through the backline as if he were water.
Winner: Erling Haaland
One can assume that these kinds of lists could be made for the next five years, and the tall Norwegian will always be listed among the winners. Man City is immensely talented overall, of course, but Haaland stands alone. He is the best striker in the Premier League.
Through five league matches, he has scored five goals, and he got to cross Sunderland off the list of teams he hadn't previously scored against. In fact, there isn't a team in the league this season that Haaland hasn't scored against before.
Loser: Jeremy Doku
Doku is only named here because he has had to miss out on all the fun. The team has won seven straight matches, but Doku has only played in one of them due to injuring his calf in the Community Shield against Arsenal. He played 16 minutes against Sunderland, which was late in the match and more to get him involved to some degree.
The positive is that Doku should be ready to play fully after the international break, augmenting a squad that is already elite. For sure, the best part of the season is still to come for Belgian.
Winner: Gianluigi Donnarumma
The change in defensive approach by Maresca to zonal play and less pressing has helped the Italian goalkeeper see fewer shots, and he has been mostly brilliant when he has had to be. Forget what happened against Sunderland, who scored three times. None of that was really Donnarumma's fault.
The revamped back line should only get better as the season progresses, limiting Donnarumma's stress. He is highly paid for a reason and will save shots that few others can. Thankfully, he just doesn't have to be in as many stressful situations under Maresca.
