A new era begins at Manchester City this season as Pep Guardiola understudy Enzo Maresca succeeds his mentor after 10 trophy-laden years at the Etihad.
The Citizens ran Arsenal close to the Premier League trophy last campaign, but surrendered a possible 11th league title to former coach Mikel Arteta.
Maresca steps into the dugout with the promise of fulfilling another dominant long-term project, just like the one that he contributed to as part of Pep’s backroom staff.
Continue reading for all of the Man City stats ahead of the 2026/27 Premier League season, including the club’s summer transfer activity, Enzo Maresca’s tactical identity and highlighted key players.
Man City opening fixtures 2026/27 Premier League
Last season’s runners-up begin their Premier League title challenge with a tough home fixture against the unknown entity in Bournemouth under Marco Rose. Five days later, Man City travel to south London to take on Crystal Palace, who also have a new manager in Pierre Sage. Up next are newly-promoted Coventry City in September before the short trip across for Maresca’s first derby with Manchester United. A home match against Sunderland rounds out Man City’s opening five fixtures.
| Date | Opponent | Kick-off |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 23rd August | Bournemouth (H) | 2pm |
| Friday 28th August | Crystal Palace (A) | 8pm |
| Saturday 5th September | Coventry City (H) | 3pm |
| Sunday 13th September | Manchester United (A) | 4:30pm |
| Saturday 19th September | Sunderland (H) | 3pm |
Man City’s key players for 2026/27 Premier League
Man City top Premier League Golden Boot contender: Erling Haaland
- Key stat: Erling Haaland has scored a goal roughly every 81 minutes since joining Manchester City in 2022.
Only time will tell for how well suited Erling Haaland is to Enzo Maresca’s tactical system. But it’s difficult to imagine the Norwegian struggling for goals. Fresh off scoring seven goals at his first World Cup this summer, the 26-year-old is likely to be ahead of the league’s chasing pack again having won the Golden Boot in three of his four Premier League seasons.
Man City primary playmaker: Rayan Cherki
- Key stat: Rayan Cherki averaged 3.1 chances created per 90 last season.
Creative responsibilities may be divided between Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden more so than under Pep Guardiola last season. However, the promising numbers from the Frenchman’s maiden campaign tip the balance in his favour. Cherki found his feet quickly in Guardiola’s system last term, and may adapt just as fast to the demands required by the new boss.
Man City card magnet and top tackler: Nico O’Reilly
- Key stat: No player conceded more fouls for Man City in the Premier League last season than Nico O’Reilly (45).
Following Bernardo Silva’s free transfer to Real Madrid — Man City’s most-carded player last campaign with 10 yellow cards in the Premier League — Nico O’Reilly is a likely successor. He made more tackles (68) than any of his teammates across the 2025/26 Premier League season, picking up five bookings in the league and eight in total across all competitions.
Man City rising star: Jeremy Monga
At just 17 years old, the world is well and truly Jeremy Monga’s oyster. The multi-record-breaking winger is most notable for being the league’s second-youngest debutant behind Ethan Nwaneri. He also became the youngest Championship scorer last season with his goal against Preston North End, aged just 16 years and 37 days old.
Man City 2026 summer transfers
There’s been plenty of activity in regards to Man City’s summer transfer business. They’ve paid a record-fee for midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, and acquired two young wingers in Jeremy Monga from Leicester City and Troyes’ Mathys Detourbet – the latter being immediately loaned out to Monaco.
It’s been busier on the outgoings front, though. Man City have lost Bernardo Silva to Real Madrid on a free transfer, while Manuel Akanji has been sold to Inter Milan following a successful loan spell. Fellow defender John Stones is without a club having seen out his contract, and a third centre-back has departed the club after Nathan Ake switched Manchester for Istanbul with Fenerbahce.
Man City tactical analysis and formation
Man City’s team stats (average per game in 2025/26 Premier League)
- Corners: 6.42
- Shots on target: 5.39
- Shots on target conceded: 3.32
- Offsides: 1.15
Maresca favours a 4-2-3-1 system, with his teams typically morphing into a 3-2-5 or 3-4-3 diamond while in possession, as one full-back inverts into midfield. His methodology is based around manufacturing central overloads to exploit the space they create. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it’s almost identical to the approach adopted by Pep Guardiola last season, which especially highlighted the significance of Nico O’Reilly.
Folding O’Reilly into the midfield will allow for any combination of Anderson and Reijnders/Kovacic/Gonzalez to push forward and support Cherki or Foden higher up. That being said, Joao Pedro largely sacrificed his own game for the greater good in this system at Chelsea, dropping off to drag out opposition centre-backs, and helping create 4v4 attacking opportunities. Since that isn’t really a stylistic trait that Haaland gravitates towards, Maresca may have to rely more heavily on his wingers to solve final-third penetration.
Man City manager analysis
Enzo Maresca’s senior managerial career began as head coach of Parma in Serie B for the 2021/22 season. He lasted only 14 matches before being dismissed, winning just four games in this early managerial learning curve. In June 2022, Maresca replaced Juanma Lillo as one of Pep Guardiola’s assistant managers at Man City.
A year later, he was appointed manager at newly-relegated Leicester City in the Championship. Fast forward to April 2024, Maresca led the Foxes back to the Premier League as champions. Months later, he would switch Leicester for Chelsea. All things considered, Maresca had a successful first season in West London, achieving a top-four finish and Champions League qualification for the first time since 2021/22 season. He also won his first trophy as the Blues boss when defeating Real Betis 4-1 in the Uefa Conference League final.
On New Year’s Day in 2026 Maresca stepped down from his role as Chelsea boss, citing rising tensions with the owners as the reason for his departure.
| Manager | Team | P | W | D | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enzo Maresca | Man City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |