Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca is learning about his new team, and Saturday's defeat at Aston Villa added an important piece of evidence about the value of defender Matheus Nunes.
Taken together with the match against Paris Saint-Germain two weeks ago and City's other wins, some trends are beginning to emerge for the new manager.
Midfield questions remain open
One of the main complaints from supporters at full-time in the Midlands was the absence of Ayyoub Bouaddi in the team, either at the start or at half-time when a change was made. The jury remains out on having all three of Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernandez and Rayan Cherki in midfield against the best sides, and City were much better against PSG when Bouaddi came on.
That trio worked fine in a 3-0 win against Liverpool, and even though Cherki was taken off at half-time at United, the team was made even more attacking and still picked up a victory with 10 men. Villa were able to play through City too easily on Saturday, but it feels too soon to be making definitive calls on the makeup of the midfield.
Nunes' absence felt in defence
There is more evidence, though, for a key City absence in defence. Abdukodir Khusanov and Rico Lewis both saw plenty of the ball in that position, but neither of them can bring to the team what Matheus Nunes can.
Nunes fought against the role for months and can still make errors given he is a midfielder by trade, yet he has turned himself into one of the best full-backs in the league. A tough atmosphere and a Villa team with power and pace is the sort of game where the City team feels significantly weaker without Nunes in it, and so it showed.
It did not seem a coincidence that City's worst week of last season, with limp defeats at Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, came when Nunes was injured. The record with and without him since the beginning of the 2025/26 campaign is remarkable.
Stark record with and without Nunes
City have won 38 of 50 games when Nunes has started in that time, and drawn another eight. Their win rate with the Portugal star in the team is basically three in every four matches (76 per cent), and they have only lost four games (eight per cent) when he has played.
Take him out of the team and City have lost 9 out of 23 (39 per cent) and their win rate falls to 52 per cent. For every four games played, City pick up at least another three points when Nunes plays.
That is not of course solely down to one player, and it is exactly a year since Nunes started in a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park, but there has been more evidence this season that Nunes is the most reliable option when available. His 100 per cent record when starting this season includes victories at Porto, United, and Liverpool, while the team were better for his introduction in the second half against PSG and his absence was felt against Villa. If Maresca didn't know already, Nunes has become even more valuable to this City team.
