Man City are one fixture away from their first defining week of the season

The first truly big week of Manchester City's season is beginning to take shape. As we head into a new campaign, there are more questions around Pep Guardiola's side than there have been for a long time.

Their third-place finish last term, defeats to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final and Al Hilal in the Club World Cup, and eight new signings in 2025 bring plenty of uncertainty heading into a campaign in which the bookmakers can't really separate Liverpool, Arsenal, and City.

We will get a better understanding of City's state from their opening-day trip to face Wolves at Molineux, and games against Tottenham at the Etihad and Brighton at the Amex will also be good gauges. But then it's worth remembering that City looked good in their first three games in the Club World Cup before collapsing against the Saudi Pro League side.

Every Premier League season has weeks that look defining, at least when the fixtures are announced, and if we want a true assessment of the strength of this City side, then it might come in the middle of September.

On Sunday, September 14, they welcome Manchester United to the Etihad, a fixture that will bring back unwelcome memories from last season. In December, they led Ruben Amorim's ramshackle side 1-0 in the final couple of minutes but conspired to lose the game. It was a sign that the rot had set in deep.

There are even more questions around United than City this season after their dismal campaign last year. They will be without European football, and there might be an expectation they will be more settled in Amorim's 3-4-2-1 system, but this game feels like a sizeable litmus test for both teams.

The Champions League returns midweek. As with last season, the first set of league phase games will be spread from Tuesday to Thursday, but the Blues are likely to play on Wednesday or Thursday because of the new date for the derby.

City's European hopes were all but ended last season when they failed to secure a top-eight finish in the 32-team league, handing them an unexpected play-off against Real Madrid. This season, they will be determined to put that right.

The schedule could throw up any fixture in that slot, but given their domestic games that week, City will hope for a home game against relatively routine opposition, rather than a potential blockbuster showdown with another member of the European elite. It might be both teams expect to get through, but Guardiola won't want to be on the back foot again in Europe.

A home game will also offer extra preparation time for the final assignment of that week, which comes at the Emirates against Arsenal. Mikel Arteta's side are spending as if they mean business this summer, and Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres both offer fixes for what have become problem positions.

This is the Blues' first game against Liverpool or Arsenal this season. They were beaten 5-1 in North London in February and will be desperate to show they are a different proposition now. If they come through this week having laid down a few markers, then they might feel they are heading for a different conclusion this season.

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