Manchester City get set for their first pre-season friendly and they travel to Hong Kong to lock horns with Inter Milan, who they defeated 1-0 to win the UEFA Champions League in 2023.
This will be a first look at the Citizens under Enzo Maresca after he replaced Pep Guardiola following his successful 10-year tenure, which featured 20 major trophies including six Premier League titles.
Maresca has big shoes to fill and he will be keen to impress having endured a stop-start time while in charge of Chelsea.
Maresca has selected a 28-man squad for City's Asian tour, with Erling Haaland, Rodri, Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly, Jeremy Doku, Rayan Cherki and big-money buy Elliot Anderson all unavailable following busy World Cup campaigns.
John Stones has left the Citizens - joining Inter on a free transfer - but there are still plenty of elite players on show with Tijjani Reijnders, Phil Foden, Antoine Semenyo, Savinho and Abdukodir Khusanov among those set to feature.
Serie A champions Inter are also missing a number of senior players on the back of the World Cup, including captain Lautaro Martinez, while Denzel Dumfries is moving to Real Madrid.
Manchester City v Inter Milan Tips Summary
Best Bet - Manchester City to win @ 19/20
Alternative Bet - Phil Foden anytime goalscorer @ 11/5
Bet Builder - Manchester City to win, Over 2 goals & Antoine Semenyo anytime goalscorer @ 16/5
Manchester City v Inter Milan Prediction
Best Bet: Manchester City to win @ 19/20
City will be far from full strength with many of their World Cup heroes still missing but the same is true of Inter and the Citizens still have enough in reserve to prevail.
Maresca has scary depth at his disposal and Foden, Reijnders and Savinho are three that will especially want to stake their claim before the masses return.
Semenyo is another that should play some part after Ghana’s early World Cup exit and he had a stellar campaign for the Citizens last season, scoring seven goals in 17 appearances following his arrival from Bournemouth.
With an array of young talent also available to Maresca, City should have too much quality for an Inter side missing star striker Martinez, particularly given the Italian champions only edged past German outfit Karlsruher 2-1 in their last pre-season friendly.
Alternative Bet: Phil Foden anytime goalscorer @ 11/5
Semenyo is a leading scoring candidate for City but Foden, having not been selected for England at the World Cup, should be fresh and may feel he has a point to prove.
Foden was limited for starts at City last season but his raw talent cannot be questioned and he still chipped in with seven goals and five assists in 33 Premier League appearances.
The 26-year-old is now at the stage of his career where it is time to step things up and he can celebrate a goal in this crunch clash with Inter.
Manchester City v Inter Milan Bet Builder Tip
- Manchester City to win
- Over 2 goals
- Antoine Semenyo anytime goalscorer
Pays 16/5
Manchester City can make a winning start under Maresca, who will be desperate to hit the ground running.
The Citizens are missing a number of key players but they have a lot of quality still available and, with friendlies often producing a number of goals with the result of less importance, this should be lively.
Semenyo scored 10 goals in 20 Premier League appearances for Bournemouth before joining City in January. He added another seven goals in 17 top-flight matches for the Citizens and could be the match-winner in Hong Kong.
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Key Match Stats
- Manchester City have lost only one of their last 12 matches
- The Citizens are unbeaten in three meetings with Inter, keeping a clean sheet on each occasion
- One or both teams have failed to score in the last four head-to-head matches
- Inter are unbeaten in 13 outings
- There have been three or more goals in eight of Inter’s last 11 fixtures
- City have kept three clean sheets in their last five games
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
