The most important Manchester City inquest of the current international break…?
Alright, maybe not, but our Half-Term Report series can at least dissect Enzo Maresca’s league leaders (for now) from a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective.
- READ MORE: 10 things we’ve learned from FPL Gameweeks 1-5
- READ MORE: The FPL talismans – Top players for goals + chances in 2026/27
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RESULTS SO FAR
| GW | Result | Man City’s xG | Man City’s xGC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City 2-1 Bournemouth | 2.25 | 0.65 |
| 2 | Crystal Palace 1-4 Man City | 2.21 | 0.66 |
| 3 | Man City 1-0 Coventry | 2.12 | 1.37 |
| 4 | Man United 0-1 Man City | 1.10 | 1.00 |
| 5 | Man City 5-3 Sunderland | 2.82 | 3.57 |
Dominating the headlines for past actions that raise questions about their future, the present situation is that Man City have won all five matches and sit top of the league.
In that respect, it’s been a perfect start for Maresca, handed the daunting task of following Pep Guardiola’s reign.
They’ve done it the hard way, needing a couple of late Gameweek 1 goals to overcome Bournemouth, playing with 10 men for 70 minutes in the Manchester derby, and conceding a whopping 3.57 xG to Sunderland last time out.
XG/XGC RANK V OTHER TEAMS
| Total | Rank v other clubs | |
|---|---|---|
| xG | 10.50 | 2nd |
| xGC | 7.25 | 9th |
Still, despite lingering towards the middle for overall attempts (68), the team is second for both goals (13) and xG (10.50). They sit joint-second for big chances (17), too.
The nutty eight-goal thriller with Sunderland has rather damaged City’s xGC standing. They were second in the Premier League for that stat after four Gameweeks!
LINE-UP LESSONS
After a decade of ‘Pep Roulette’, it’s interesting to see that seven players have started all five league matches so far.
However, looking ahead, it’ll be hard to pick attackers, especially with the schedule ramping up. It’s been a relatively serene picture so far, with not much in the way of midweek exertions. That changes now:
We’ve already seen Rayan Cherki (£7.8m) and Phil Foden (£6.9m) be benched, and the deadline-day arrivals of Enzo Fernandez (£6.9m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£5.8m), plus Jeremy Doku‘s (£7.4m) recovery, drastically increase competition. Could Antoine Semenyo (£8.4m) even get the occasional rest going forward?
- READ MORE: Where could rotation strike in FPL Gameweeks 6-10?
- READ MORE: The biggest FPL disappointments of 2026/27 so far
Nico O’Reilly (£6.3m) has been unfortunate. A great end to 2025/26 inspired approximately two million managers to have him in their initial team. He made the first few lineups but got injured in the Gameweek 3 warm-up and hasn’t started since, before a recent withdrawal from the England squad. He may be second choice at both left-back and central midfield now.
SET-PIECE TAKERS
| Corners | Anderson (9), Cherki (9), Foden (7), Enzo (5), Ndiaye (1) |
| Crosses from free-kicks | Enzo (3), Cherki (2), Foden (1) |
| Shots from direct free-kicks | Enzo (1) |
| Penalties | n/a |
The set-piece situation is still settling down at City, and may never truly come to rest.
Enzo got off the mark for his new employers with a well-taken direct free-kick in Gameweek 5, while he was also on corner-taking duties from both flanks against Sunderland. Those were the first corners he’d taken in a City shirt since his move.
Elliot Anderson (£6.3m), who’d taken at least one corner in all four preceding Gameweeks, took a backseat at dead-ball situations.
Cherki’s corner assisted Marc Guehi (£6.0m) in Gameweek 1, and he’s taken at least one corner in all five appearances. Foden, meanwhile, has dropped out of the starting XI and the dead-ball conversation.
Their first penalty of 2026/27 hasn’t happened yet, but we know Erling Haaland (£15.6m) will be the taker when it does!
TOP PLAYERS FOR DEFCONS
READ MORE
OTHER HALF-TERM REPORTS
Arsenal (coming soon) | Aston Villa | Bournemouth | Brentford | Brighton | Chelsea | Coventry | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Ipswich | Leeds | Liverpool | Man City | Man Utd (coming soon) | Newcastle (coming soon) | Nottm Forest (coming soon) | Sunderland (coming soon) | Tottenham (coming soon)
