--- title: "Foden’s red card and other early warning signs in City’s perfect record" canonical: "https://readmancity.com/2026/10/17/fodens-red-card-and-other-early-warning-signs-in-citys-perfect-record/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Snack Media" section: "Man City News" published: "2026-10-17T00:06:00Z" modified: "2026-10-19T09:08:39Z" --- # Foden’s red card and other early warning signs in City’s perfect record Manchester City have won every Premier League game they have played this season and go into October top of the table. The [Premier League winner odds](https://www.paddypower.com/football/english-premier-league?tab=outrights) reflect that start, but the performances behind the results have been less convincing than the table suggests. These are the warning signs Enzo Maresca needs to fix before the trip to Anfield. **Foden’s red card leaves a gap at Anfield** Phil Foden was sent off midway through the first half of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on 13 September for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes. Referee Michael Oliver showed a straight red card and VAR backed the decision. Maresca accepted afterwards that the reaction deserved a red, although he felt Fernandes should have gone too. City still won 1-0, with Erling Haaland scoring on the hour after almost 70 minutes with 10 men. The cost comes later. A red card for violent conduct carries a three-match domestic ban. It covered the Carabao Cup win over Norwich and the league win over Sunderland, and the third game is Liverpool away on 11 October. He remains available for the Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain three days later. **The defence keeps letting teams back in** City have conceded five goals in five league games. Bournemouth and Crystal Palace both scored in the opening fortnight, and the only clean sheets came in the two 1-0 wins. The clearest warning came at the Etihad on 20 September. Brian Brobbey scored a hat-trick for Sunderland, and City had to take the lead three times in the first half before winning 5-3. Antoine Semenyo scored twice and Haaland settled it with nine minutes left, but conceding three goals at home is not title-winning form. **Promoted Coventry pushed them close** Coventry arrived at the Etihad on 5 September without a league goal and left having lost only 1-0. City had 78% of the ball, but ESPN’s figures gave them 1.84 expected goals to Coventry’s 1.23. Haaland’s first-half header, the 300th goal of his career, was the difference. After the break Coventry had the better of it, Gianluigi Donnarumma made two important saves, and Haaland was clearing headers in his own box in stoppage time. **Arsenal have already beaten them** The season opened with a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield in Cardiff on 16 August. Riccardo Calafiori scored inside the first minute, and Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard added the others. It was Maresca’s first competitive game in charge. Arsenal are the champions and sit second, three points behind City, so they are the side most likely to punish any drop in standards. **The verdict nobody can defend against** The biggest threat to the record has nothing to do with the football. On 30 September an independent commission found City guilty in the Premier League’s case over breaches of its financial rules, first brought in February 2023. City have said they will appeal and have until 2 October to lodge it. The club’s statement said the verdict “contains clear material errors of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”. Punishment will be set at a separate hearing and could include a points deduction this season. The Premier League wants the whole process finished as soon as possible. Until that is settled, anyone backing City in the [football odds](https://www.paddypower.com/football) is betting on a points total that could still change off the pitch. **What Anfield will show** Liverpool are sixth and unbeaten, with two wins and three draws under Andoni Iraola. City have won the last three meetings between the clubs, but they will go there without Foden and with a defence that has conceded in three of five league games. Maresca has been nominated for the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award for September, and the results deserve that. The performances have left more room for doubt. Anfield on 11 October is the first real test of which one is closer to the truth. Image Source: [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/photos/manchester-united-football-1656122/)