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Manchester City beat Wolves on the opening day but their next four fixtures will provide sterner tests
Manchester City laid down an early season Premier League marker with the swashbuckling opening day win at Wolves.
The Blues, while not flawless, were impressive and several players produced standout performances in a 4-0 win.
Tijjani Reijnders looked to the manor born in midfield while Oscar Bobb excelled on the right. James Trafford was composed in goal, John Stones assured on his return and Rico Lewis bright.
As starts to the season go, it was as close to perfect as you could wish for, particularly given the transfer talk that dominated the build-up amid potential exits for Ederson and Savinho and the prospect of Gianluigi Donnarumma arriving from PSG.
And while more work will be done in the transfer market off the pitch with Pep Guardiola reiterating post match his stance and concern that his squad is too big, on the pitch City looked back to something like their best.
There were still concerning moments but it was a largely positive performance and a standout result that has them top of the not so relevant one-game old Premier League table.
We have been here before of course with City's renaissance. In the summer they swatted Juventus aside with a commanding performance at the Club World Cup before collapsing against Al-Hilal and suffering a shock exit.
The last time they enjoyed a four-goal Premier League winning margin was against Newcastle United in February. City subsequently limped out of the Champions League to Real Madrid and struggled to lay a glove on Liverpool in their following two games, ultimately winning just two of their next six. And one of those was against now third-tier Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup.
So while there was plenty to like at Molineux on Saturday, the acid test comes over the coming weeks. Can City sustain their form and produce performances and results against what will be more difficult challenges?
The Blues host Tottenham in their Etihad opener on Saturday - a side who have had something of a hex on City in recent years - before trips to Brighton and Arsenal sandwiched either side of a home Manchester derby.
Those four fixtures will tell us plenty about this new version of City. The Blues lost all those corresponding games last term by an aggregate score of 14-3.
If City are sitting pretty after that tranche of matches, the start to the season will have gone from a wonderful one to a famous five.
Man City's 2025/26 Third Shirt
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Man City have launched their new third shirt for the 2025/26 season.
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