Premier League champions Manchester City face Ipswich Town as they return to the Etihad Stadium for the first time this season. Alex Jones takes a closer look at the Cityzens...
Champions again, olé, olé!
Man City are ruthless and relentless. They want to win everything and falling short is deemed to be unacceptable.
As a result, they’ve won the Premier League title seven times in the last eight years, lifting it four times in a row heading into this season. Under Pep Guardiola, they’ve won the FA Cup twice (2019 and 2023) and the Carabao Cup four times (2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021). On top of that, they finally tasted Champions League glory for the first time in their history in 2023, beating Inter Milan in the final.
There are questions about whether they way they’ve gone about it is fair, and those questions are set to be answered in the coming weeks, months and years. For now, there’s no other way to look at them than what they are on the surface: an incredible football team.
It goes beyond the trophies, the points and the results. They’ve been known to systematically pick apart any opponent that shows any weakness. They’re fast, physical, fit and clinical, currently on a league unbeaten run that dates back to December 6th, 2023 (away at Aston Villa).
They’re particularly dominant on home soil, where they didn’t lose a single game in any competition last season. In fact, their last defeat at the Etihad Stadium came back in November 2022 when Ivan Toney’s stoppage-time strike handed Brentford three points.
A team of superstars
When you look through Man City’s squad, it’s hard to pick out one individual. They’re a team full of superstars, which has helped them be so successful in the last few years.
If there is one particular name to highlight, it has to be Erling Haaland. The 6’4” striker first caught the eye at Red Bull Salzburg before hitting form at Borussia Dortmund. That led to a big-money move to the Cityzens in 2022, where he’s been devastating in front of goal.
In all competitions, his return is 91 goals in 100 games. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2022/23 and 2023/24, scoring 36 goals in the former. He’s shattered a number of records during his time in England and looks set to lead the line against Ipswich after bagging the opener against Chelsea last weekend.
The level doesn’t drop from there. Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has been one of the best creative midfielders of the Premier League era, England international Phil Foden could return to the starting lineup after the Euros, Rúben Dias and Joško Gvardiol have looked imperious at the back. They’re going to be tough to stop.
The best in the world?
A lot is said about Guardiola and his career so far. A manager who’s only ever coached the best squads, he has one of the most impressive honours lists in world football.
In his four years at FC Barcelona, he helped turn them into the most dominant side in Europe, developing the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, and of course Lionel Messi. During his time at the club, they won La Liga three times and the Champions League twice, adding to his reputation in Catalonia after a glittering playing career.
His stint at Bayern Munich was almost as impressive. Three years, three Bundesliga titles. He never managed to guide them to Champions League glory, however, something which he did achieve at Man City as mentioned.
Individually, he’s been recognised as one of the best managers in the world and the history of the sport. It goes beyond results, factoring in his style of play and the way he developed it, going from tiki-taka at Barcelona to the inverted full-backs he’s used in the last few years.
It’ll be a real challenge for Kieran McKenna to come up against such a savvy tactician, although the Town boss has tasted success against the Cityzens before, helping Manchester United claim some important victories against their arch-rivals during his time as assistant manager at Old Trafford.
A quiet transfer window
Man City’s transfer window has mainly been focused on exits, cutting a bloated squad with a number of loans and permanent transfers.
Tommy Doyle and Taylor Harwood-Bellis saw their respective loan moves at Wolves and Southampton made permanent. Sergio Gomez returned to Spain with Real Sociedad and Liam Delap, of course, made the switch to Portman Road just a day later.
The high profile departure was Julian Alvarez, who made the move to Atletico Madrid for a reported fee of £81.5 million. The Cityzens are reportedly eyeing up Celtic’s Japanese striker Kyogo Furuhashi as his replacement, although Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference that he isn’t expecting any further additions.
In terms of done deals, Brazilian winger Savinho is in, having joined from fellow City Group club Troyes after a loan spell at Girona (who are also part of the City Group). Yesterday, they also announced the return of İlkay Gündoğan on a free transfer, having only left the club for FC Barcelona last summer.
Team news
Guardiola was unsure whether or not Gündoğan has been registered in time to face Ipswich, so we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s named in the squad at 1:45pm this afternoon.
The manager confirmed that Rodri, who picked up an injury while winning the Euros for Spain earlier this summer, is ‘still not good’ and expected to miss the game against Ipswich. Savinho is also a doubt after limping off at half-time in his impressive debut against Chelsea.
21-year-old Oscar Bobb is the only other absentee, having suffered a leg fracture at the end of pre-season. A call will have to be made on Foden, who was benched last weekend after a busy summer with the England national team.
Possible XI: 4-3-3: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; De Bruyne, Kovačić, Silva; Foden, Haaland, Doku
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