Manchester City fans have sent a well-timed confidence boost to the club by expressing their near-complete satisfaction with Pep Guardiola's squad.
City enjoyed a great start to the campaign after they flew out of the traps, defeating neighbours Manchester United 6-3 and sailing through to the knockout stages of the Champions League. New signing Erling Haaland has been a revelation since his arrival and already has a remarkable 23 goals to his name.
However, while it's by no means panic stations just yet, there was a noticeable drop-off in performance levels as the World Cup break edged closer. Though the Blues responded well to the loss to Liverpool in terms of results, they struggled against Brighton at times and it took a late goal to defeat Fulham.
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The downward trend culminated in the final game before the break as Guardiola's side were deservedly beaten by Brentford after they registered one of their worst displays in recent memory. Perhaps the looming World Cup subconsciously impacted those heading to Qatar and everything will be fine once the Premier League resumes, but it has still been a concerning spell.
Defeat to the Bees saw City slip five points behind leaders of the pack Arsenal and while it's certainly not an unassailable gap they definitely have a title race on their hands, with Newcastle United breathing down on their necks.
Yet, City fans are not worried about the squad's quality at all. MEN Sport asked readers to cast a vote on each player who has appeared in the first team as to whether they should be sold or kept in the upcoming January transfer window. If over 50 per cent of voters said a player should stay, then they would go into the keep column, while less than that would see them slip into the red.
Of the 26 players who have made a senior appearance, only one came in with a less than 50 per cent positive vote. That player, somewhat surprisingly, was Riyad Mahrez. While the winger has endured a slow start to the season, he finished the last campaign as the top scorer with 22 goals and signed a new contract in the summer. 47.9 per cent of fans believe he should be kept.
Otherwise, City supporters don't want to see anyone depart the club in January. Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Haaland topped the charts.
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