After beginning the season with seven straight wins, Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City have hit a dead end, losing their last three Premier League games. The slump has been marked by defensive frailties and poor finishing, with defeats at the hands of Aston Villa, Brighton and Nottingham Forest.

More worrying for City is the instability in central defence. Maresca’s side has used a staggering five different defensive partnerships in the first 10 games of the 2026/27 Premier League campaign.

Saturday’s 3-1 away defeat to Nottingham Forest sees the Citizens drop six points behind leaders Arsenal going into the November international break.

A brace from City academy graduate Liam Delap, either side of half-time, and a well-taken finish from Cunha were enough to cancel out Rayan Cherki’s well-taken strike and hand Forest their first win in five outings and their first home victory of the season. The result lifts Forest out of the relegation zone into 16th place.

City have managed just two goals in their last three Premier League games while conceding six. They also lead the league with 45 missed big chances, have conceded 68% of their goals in the second half and 48% in the final 20 minutes, a result of late fatigue and counter-attacks. They have not kept a clean sheet in their last five games in all competitions, including the three in the league.

In his post-match interview, City boss Enzo Maresca lamented his team’s slow start to games, insisting they must start matches as they intend to go on, instead of waiting to fall a goal or two behind before attacking the game.

The two-week international break gives Maresca and his backroom staff the chance to analyse the last five games in all competitions and look for solutions ahead of the home fixture against Fulham on November 21.

By: Addy Kennedy Edem