Manager Enzo Maresca said he and his Manchester City players are “hungry for more wins” despite an already exceptional start to his tenure at the Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens have made a 100 per cent start to the Premier League season after beating Ipswich Town 3-2 last weekend, making Enzo Maresca the first Premier League manager to win his opening seven games at the club.
The Italian marked his return to the Etihad Stadium with the feat after succeeding Pep Guardiola in the summer, after the Catalan walked away from the club after 10 historic years and 20 major trophies, including the 2023 Treble.
This weekend, Enzo Maresca will hope to keep his side at the top of the Premier League table as they visit Villa Park, where the hosts are unbeaten in their last seven games across all competitions.
Mood inside Man City is “very good”, says Maresca
Following an exceptional, albeit expected, win over AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, overall spirits in the Manchester City camp will be high, despite a wave of injuries that have shaken the club recently.
Phil Foden returned to stunning form and excelled in the game, scoring his first-ever Champions League hat-trick to supplement an opener from Elliot Anderson, who scored his first City goal, alongside Rayan Cherki.
Speaking about the mood around the club, Maresca told reporters on Thursday morning, “The mood is very good. We are happy with our start, but we are hungry for more wins - happy at the moment, but we want more.”
Continuing by discussing what Unai Emery has done at Aston Villa, the Manchester City boss added, "I have huge respect for Unai; he's done well at all [the] clubs he's been. He's a fantastic manager; they're a very good team.
"You can recognise the team, see clearly what they want - very intense off the ball. They are also, in this moment, in a good mood, winning games. I have respect for Unai, and I'm 100% sure that it's going to be a very tough game.”
Aston Villa, who cruised past Freiburg to win their first European title in May, tore Viking FK apart on Wednesday night and are also placed 12th in the Premier League table, above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Maresca vows Man City can attack and defend better
There have not been many negatives to pick at for Enzo Maresca and co. since their 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Community Shield at the beginning of the 2026/27 campaign.
Even in failing to win against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, for example, the Citizens managed to pull two goals back and provide some sense of satisfaction in a much better second-half performance.
Maresca knows that his side are playing well and impressing supporters, but said that he is always trying to establish areas that need more work to reach a standard that he is happy with.
"We need to find the right balance between the goals we score and the goals we concede. We're scoring many goals, but I'm sure that we can improve; there's always something we can do better, and this is our target," he said on Thursday.
“I think we can attack better, defend better, a matter of finding balance. I'm always looking for how we can improve. Also, in build-up, we can improve. Sometimes we forget that it's just three or four months that we started together, even if I was here three years ago. It's a completely new project - that's why I'm sure that we can improve, improve, and improve.”
Can Man City continue relentless Premier League form?
From Old Trafford to Anfield, and back to the Etihad Stadium again, Manchester City have made the perfect start to the ongoing Premier League campaign, and there seems to be no sign of them stopping.
With their first run of important and perhaps more challenging fixtures over with, the run-in until the Christmas period provides some fixtures that may allow flexibility in the starting lineup.
Admittedly, injuries and general fatigue have practically forced Enzo Maresca to make a handful of changes in his last two matches - six were made against Ipswich and eight more against AEK Athens.
But it is expected that he will return to full strength, especially as the Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Brighton & Hove Albion is expected to bring about a welcome opportunity for the Manchester City manager to rotate his side once again.