Yahoo Sports Maximo Perrone, Joel Ndala, and Erling Haaland to start – Predicted Starting Line-Up: Manchester City vs AC Milan (Pre-Season Friendly)
Manchester City embark on matchday two of their pre-season tour in the United States this week, embarking on the New York City leg of their four-game schedule.
The Premier League champions’ opening contest saw the club fall to a narrow defeat in a thrilling 3-4 meeting with Scottish Premier League title holders Celtic in the North Carolina town of Chapel Hill.
A stunning individual performance from Oscar Bobb, who provided a goal and two assists, ensured that there was plenty for Pep Guardiola to be pleased about, as Erling Haaland and Maximo Perrone also found themselves on the scoresheet.
The bright lights of New York City now welcome Manchester’s top dogs this weekend, as Yankee Stadium plays host to a meeting with AC Milan – the first clash between the two clubs in any level of competition since 2014.
Pep Guardiola’s options over in the United States have been further boosted in the lead up to this one, with Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic returning from their respective summer breaks post-Euro 2024 to build their own fitness levels before the new campaign.
Ahead of an enticing encounter for Manchester City supporters and another opportunity to see the club’s young rising stars excel at senior first-team level this week, here is how we predict Pep Guardiola will line-up his squad on Saturday night.
Predicted XI
Having started the last contest on the bench, but taking on the second 45 minutes against Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic in midweek, we believe Ederson will get the nod to begin this one from the very off ahead of Stefan Ortega Moreno.
Over at right-back, and largely due to the limited options available for rotation, we think Rico Lewis will once again start this one following yet another encouraging performance at senior level football for Manchester City against Celtic.
In central defence, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey could be handed another opportunity to impress, starting this one alongside Callum Doyle – who also caught the eyes of many onlookers when he appeared from the substitutes bench on matchday one of the US tour.
Whilst it was a very difficult opening minutes for the left-back against Celtic’s bold front-line in North Carolina, we think Pep Guardiola will put one arm round Josh Wilson-Esbrand in New York City and grant him a second successive start.
The same goes for Kalvin Phillips, who is likely to retain his place in defensive midfield for Manchester City but could share minutes with Mateo Kovacic following the Croatian’s return to action this week.
Having spoken so highly of the player before the start of the pre-season tour contests, James McAtee is likely to be granted another opportunity to impress, and may even stand alongside Maximo Perrone in the advanced midfield positions against AC Milan.
After a stunning individual outing against Celtic earlier this week, you would think that Oscar Bobb is arguably the first name on this hugely unpredictable teamsheet, and is likely to star in a front-three for Manchester City.
Erling Haaland‘s return to goalscoring action will no doubt ensure his place in the starting line-up, with New York City eager to get a glimpse of the global superstar in a Manchester City shirt for the very first time.
While Jack Grealish showed plenty of promise in an excellent return to Manchester City duties earlier this week, a starting line-up debut for Joel Ndala could yet be on the cards having showed plenty of excitement in North Carolina.
Starting XI: Ederson; Lewis, Simpson-Pusey, Doyle, Wilson-Esbrand; Phillips, McAtee, Perrone; Bobb, Haaland, Ndala.
Substitutes: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Mfuni, Samuel, Mbete, Katongo, Galvez, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Wright, Susoho, O’Reilly, Hamilton, Oboavwoduo, Knight, Fatah, Grealish, Heskey.
