---
title: "Maresca can join rare Premier League club with Man City win over Sunderland"
canonical: "https://readmancity.com/2026/09/19/enzo-maresca-man-city-premier-league-record-sunderland/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Gary Gowers"
section: "Man City News"
published: "2026-09-19T14:45:00Z"
modified: "2026-10-10T21:44:59Z"
---

# Maresca can join rare Premier League club with Man City win over Sunderland

**Enzo Maresca can become only the sixth manager to win his first five Premier League games in charge of a club when** [**City**](https://readmancity.com/) **face Sunderland on Sunday.**

City have taken maximum points from their opening four league games under Maresca, with last weekend’s 1-0 win at Manchester United maintaining their perfect start. Opta’s numbers put Maresca within touching distance of some notable company.

Carlo Ancelotti won his first six Premier League games at Chelsea, while Pep Guardiola did the same after taking charge of City in 2016. Craig Shakespeare also managed six with Leicester City and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Manchester United.

Maurizio Sarri won his first five at Chelsea, the mark Maresca will reach if City beat Sunderland at the Etihad.

## Maresca expects tough Sunderland game

If the numbers suggest another City win would be no great surprise, Maresca has spent the build-up talking up the difficulty of Sunday’s game.

“I have the feeling that the Sunderland game will be the toughest game since we started the season,” he said after watching several of their recent matches.

City made 10 changes for Wednesday’s 5-0 Carabao Cup win at Norwich, with Maresca explaining afterwards that he wanted to rest players who had played successive 90 minutes against Porto and Manchester United.

“We gave rest to the ones that played back-to-back 90 minutes against Porto and United,” he said. “It was important for them to give them rest and hopefully they can be full of energy for Sunday’s game that will be a strong game.”

City are also waiting to see whether [Jeremy Doku will be available against Sunderland](https://readmancity.com/2026/09/18/enzo-maresca-jeremy-doku-injury-update-sunderland/) after his spell on the sidelines. Five league games into Maresca’s City reign would be far too soon for any grand conclusions.

Five wins from five, though, would put him on a very short list.

[*LIVE! Premier League 2026/27 News, Transfers, Updates & Viral Moments*](https://dave.sport/live/premier-league-2026-2027-season-updates/)