Recap - 10 games down - how have Manchester City done so far?

We're 10 games into the new season, and Manchester City have more or less picked up from where they left off.

After winning the treble last season, some fans had concerns that the squad no longer had the ambition to win it all again, and would be either looking for moves elsewhere or would cruise through the next season.

But those fans clearly haven't heard some of the club's senior players speak.

Upon signing his new contract, Kyle Walker declared his desire to win the Premier League for the 4th season in a row - not just that, but by a huge margin.

"We're always playing catch up" Walker said to his teammates, as revealed by Jack Gaughan. "Why don't we try to run away with it, like we did in 2017/18, rather than playing catch-up or waiting for people to drop points?"

Jack Grealish, who's famous treble celebrations captured attention across the world, showed that he too wasn't going to lie down, and wanted the celebrations all over again. But, for the 28 year old, it's an unexpected trophy that he's seeking.

"I've said to a few of the guys that I'm desperate to win the Community Shield!" Grealish said to The Athletic's Sam Lee in July. Grealish has appeared in 3 Community Shield defeats for the Blues, and holds the desire to win that, along with the Carabao Cup, another trophy he's never won.

And I couldn't make a montage of success hungry quotes from City players without including one from Ruben Dias, the king of motivational (and occasionally slightly cheesy) success hungry quotes.

The Portuguese international said back in the preview to today's game against RB Leipzig "More beautiful than winning the Champions League once is to win it twice, more beautiful than to win the Premier League three times is to win it four times."

That winning mentality referred to by Dias, Walker and Grealish, has been apparent in the early stages of the season. With 7 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats so far this campaign, City have got off to a more than solid start.

After a short break following the UEFA Champions League final, City played 3 pre-season friendlies in the Far East, as well as the Community Shield defeat on penalties to Arsenal, as a way of building up their match fitness ahead of the important Premier League games.

After a convincing 3-0 victory over Vincent Kompany's Burnley, City's only issues appeared to be off the pitch. Riyad Mahrez had been allowed to leave without a replacement lined up, and talisman Kevin de Bruyne suffered a hamstring injury, requiring surgery and leaving him out until December at the earliest.

But, the vibe around the club lifted in the next week, as City won the UEFA Super Cup on penalties against Sevilla, followed by a win over a tough Newcastle United side at the Etihad, a game in which Phil Foden sparkled in De Bruyne's absence.

City signed promising young winger Jeremy Doku that week, and beat Sheffield United with a last minute winner from Rodri at Bramall Lane without Pep Guardiola, who was recovering from a back operation.

There was time for another big money signing before the end of the window, as Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes joined Doku, Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol as new faces at the Etihad Stadium. In a shock last minute exit, academy graduate Cole Palmer left East Manchester behind to join Chelsea, for a startling £45 million fee.

With their squad now complete - and the injuries piling up - City thrashed Fulham at the Etihad Stadium thanks largely to an Erling Haaland hattrick to head into the international break with a perfect record in the Premier League.

But, it couldn't have been said that City's start was perfect. They had lost De Bruyne, Grealish and John Stones to injury, and hadn't played at their absolute best in any of their games up to this point.

But, considering that City usually start off the season much sloppier than this, so there was good reason to be positive.

After the international break, however, it's been slightly less positive.

Thanks largely to a wonderful performance from Doku, City came from behind to beat West Ham United at the London Stadium 3-1, and won by the same margin a few days later against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, with Julian Alvarez the star that time around. Once again however, City fell behind, and were trailing at the break. The latest casualty was Bernardo Silva, who remains injured after a muscular issue.

The Nottingham Forest fixture at the weekend appeared to be the best possible way for City to get back into their usually flawless rhythm, and it appeared that's how it'd go, after goals from Foden and Haaland put City 2-0 inside the first 15 minutes.

But, key midfielder Rodri got himself sent off in ludicrous circumstances less than a minute after halftime, as he lost his composure and raised his hands at Morgan Gibbs-White.

This was the first red card of Rodri's career, but it'd prove to be a crucial one, as it rules him out of the away trip to Arsenal on Sunday in the Premier League.

In the first two matches of Rodri's three game suspension, City lost to Newcastle away in the Carabao Cup 3rd round (a game he admittedly wouldn't have played anyway) and Gary O'Neil's Wolves, who fully deserved the three points.

It remains to be seen how City will cope without Rodri and De Bruyne (and quite possibly Stones and Bernardo) at the Emirates on Sunday. Arsenal haven't exactly shone themselves so far this season, but the Gunners contain players who, at their very best, can hurt City.

Before then, however, City will play arguably their toughest Champions League game of the group stages, away to RB Leipzig, on Wednesday night. Leipzig are weakened by the sales of their key players Christopher Nkunku, Dominik Szoboszlai and, of course, Gvardiol to big European clubs.

Despite this, Leipzig will be no pushovers, and proudly boast the statistic that they've never lost a home game to City. The squad is thin on the ground at the moment, and there'll likely be players running low on energy by the time they play Arsenal on Sunday.

City are in a slightly difficult situation for the short term, but when it comes to Guardiola's side, each season is approached as a marathon, not a sprint.

Often, it takes a while for City to apply oil to the rust in their relentless machine, but as it stands, they are just one two squeaky cogs away from near perfection.

And this isn't taking into account the fact that De Bruyne, Bernardo, Stones, Grealish, Kovacic, Akanji, Dias and Rodri have all missed at least one game this season due to illness, injury or suspension, which is a large part of the core of the squad.

There is, of course, room for improvement. Without De Bruyne, City are occasionally lacking in the chance creation department, and quality of finishing chances has almost come to City's downfall in the Sheffield United and West Ham matches, particularly with the usually reliable Haaland.

The Wolves match in particular was poor; City looked inferior to Wolves in the duels throughout the entire game. Also, it appeared that an old enemy from the past, a fast counter attack, was beginning to rear its ugly head as an Achilles heel yet again.

But, in the first 10 games of the season, there have been plenty of encouraging signs from City's new signings gelling into the squad, as well as the way the squad have coped through an early season injury crisis, to suggest that they'll be back in competing for the big trophies again.

Haaland's the top scorer in the league again, whilst the likes of Dias, Rodri, Bernardo, Akanji and Walker have continued their fine form from last season.

So, there is plenty to remain confident about for the rest of the season, even if City lose to Leipzig and Arsenal this week. And, considering City are a side where the vast majority of players have just completed football, it's not been a bad start at all.