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Man City Women host Charlton today; Men eye next UCL clash after strong start

📅 September 26, 2026 · By Liberia Sports Live · AI-assisted match report · 👁 2

WSL: City Women face Charlton with perfect record intact

Today is matchday four in the Women's Super League, and Manchester City Women travel to Southeast London to face Charlton Athletic. Going into the game, City Women carry a perfect record in the WSL this season, while Charlton are yet to earn a single point. Manager Andrée Jeglertz's side had a testing outing last Friday, when they were pushed hard by Liverpool at Joie Stadium before eventually securing the win — an own goal put City ahead before Lauren Hemp sealed it late on. A comfortable result is widely expected today against a struggling Charlton side, but Jeglertz will know that complacency is dangerous in any derby atmosphere.

Men's side: Strong Premier League form under Maresca

On the men's side, Enzo Maresca's Manchester City have started the 2026/27 Premier League season in fine form. The Sky Blues opened up with a 2-1 home win over Bournemouth on the opening day — coming from behind in additional time — before following that up with a commanding 4-1 away victory at Crystal Palace. City then crossed the city divide to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on 13 September, winning 1-0, and then put five past Sunderland at the Etihad on 20 September in a 5-3 thriller. In Europe, City kicked off their Champions League league phase with a clean-sheet 2-0 win away at Porto. Their next UCL home fixture is against Paris Saint-Germain on 14 October.

EFL Cup: Norwich next after demolishing previous opponents

In the Carabao Cup, City are defending champions — having beaten Arsenal 2-0 in last season's final at Wembley. This term, they were drawn at home to Norwich City in the third round, with their most recent cup outing on 17 September ending in a commanding 5-0 victory. The official club website confirms a match against Charlton is today's live fixture, though this appears to be for the Women's team. City's next scheduled cup outing is a home tie against Brighton & Hove Albion in round four.

Summer recruitment: Major names arrived at the Etihad

Manager Maresca was backed heavily in the summer transfer window. The club brought in Elliot Anderson, Gerónimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan, Iliman Ndiaye, and Enzo Fernández to strengthen the squad ahead of what is expected to be a title challenge. Ndiaye arrived for a reported €70 million, while Fernández commanded a massive €145 million fee, making him one of the most expensive signings in City's history. In January, Antoine Semenyo — who went on to score the winning goal in last season's FA Cup final against Chelsea — arrived from Bournemouth for £65 million.

Transfer talk

(Rumour) With the summer window now closed, attention is slowly turning to the January window. City have been active in loaning out young talents — Claudio Echeverri and Jeremy Monga both went out on loan as recently as September 2026 — suggesting the club is managing its large squad carefully. No concrete incoming transfer rumours involving City have been officially reported in the last 48 hours, but given the scale of their summer outlay, it would be no surprise if a strategic loan deal is pursued in January to cover any injury absences that may arise.

Sources

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