Personally, I still believe that City will remain one of the title favorites, even though their form isn't as smooth as before and the competition is getting fiercer. It's too early to tell, because their winning mentality is still strong. Indeed, the coach always has his own way of dealing with this, even though he often experimented at the start of the season, but he's always adept at finding solutions at crucial moments.
In my own opinion, it would be myopic ruling Manchester city out of the title race now that the league is just starting, because in the past three title they won, their was no time they started the season strong, they always have a slow start and after the first ten games, they will gradually find their rythme and start winning back to back and sometimes wins fifteen in a row, so it would be very unwise to rule Manchester city out of the title race now that the season is just starting.
Yes, I know that they brought in new player that needs time to gel with the other players, but this is Manchester city, underrate them at your own cost.