Although there is a slight difference in Manchester City's performance at the start of this season, I think it is very inappropriate to judge Manchester City to have been bad at the start of this season. Because everyone can see that after seven matches at the start of this season, Manchester City is still ranked first and that can be very accurate evidence that Manchester City has not been that bad at the start of this season. In fact, Manchester City will still be a candidate to win the Premier League this season.
What make it dangerous? Manchester City can still achieve top position even though they're playing without a full squad, what if they play with a full squad? other teams have no chance to compete them. They might lose or draw for few matches due to shit happen, but it will not change their position.
So yeah, this season is still for Manchester City.
It is undeniable and has been proven so far that Manchester City's performance is quite consistent and they are still quite strong, the same as last season and in fact I think they will be much better than last season because now we see Manchester City's performance without the full main squad. they are still consistent with their best performance, especially if Manchester City fields their main squad in its entirety, I think Pep Guardiola's team is extraordinary and the team framework built by Pep is strong enough so that even though there is a lot of player rotation, the Manchester City team remains strong.