Enzo Maresca makes damning Man Utd claim ahead of Man City vs Sunderland

Enzo Maresca believes Sunderland will be Manchester City’s ‘toughest game of the season so far’, despite having already played Manchester United and Arsenal.

City are aiming to maintain their 100 per cent start to the Premier League season on Sunday when they host the Black Cats.

Maresca’s excellent start to life at the Etihad also includes wins in the Champions League and Carabao Cup, with their only blip being the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield.

But while the Gunners and last weekend’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford would have been very daunting prospects, the Italian manager believes Sunderland are more of a challenge.

‘I watched them already in the last two days, three or four games. I know them already,’ Maresca said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

‘I know how strong they are, and I have the feeling that on Sunday we need a top performance to beat them, and we need to be 100 per cent to win the game.

‘I watched the game live against Arsenal, and then I watched again the last two days. If you watch the game, you can realize how strong they are. I think personally that they didn’t deserve to lose that game.

‘But again, they are very strong, very well coached from their manager [Régis Le Bris]. And again, they are already have time together, so you can see what they want to do on the ball and off the ball.

‘It’s important because in case we win, it’s one more win. But I have the feeling that Sunderland game will be the toughest game since we started the season.’

There’s a good chance Maresca wasn’t including the Community Shield in his assessment, especially given that Arsenal have also enjoyed a perfect start to the campaign and sit above City in the table on goal difference.

Though they have won just once in the league so far, Sunderland have kept up their impressive performances from last season and won their opening Europa League match against AZ on Wedneday.

Last week, they could well have beaten Arsenal if not for the heroics of David Raya who saved a penalty when the game was goalless.

But while complimentary to the Black Cats, Maresca’s comments can be viewed as a damning indictment of where Man Utd are at the moment.

Michael Carrick is already under immense pressure after winning just one of United’s opening four league games, including losing the Manchester derby despite Phil Foden’s sending off early in the match.

City seemed hardly affected by being a man down and while their winning goal should not have stood, few could reasonably say that United deserved the three points

Moreover, the Red Devils crashed out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night after losing 3-2 to Brighton, despite being two goals up after 10 minutes.

United visit win-less Fulham on Sunday, in a game that is already viewed by some as must-win for Carrick.

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