Man City vs Inter LIVE goals and score updates as Foden captains side

Manchester City are in Hong Kong to take on Inter Milan in their first pre-season friendly of the summer.

Enzo Maresca will manage Manchester City for the first time this afternoon when they take on Inter Milan in Hong Kong.

The World Cup means a youthful squad has travelled to Asia for the pre-season tour. Gianluigi Donnarumma, Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo are among the first-team stars who are available to play on Maresca's debut.

Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes and Omar Marmoush are all arriving in Asia this morning, but they join too late to feature in this game.

This week, John Stones joined Inter on a two-year deal after leaving City at the end of the season. Inter also completed the permanent signing of Manuel Akanji this summer after the centre-back spent last year on loan at the San Siro. Neither man will play today though as they continue their post-World Cup breaks.

City XI - Donnarumma, Lewis, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Mfuni, Kovacic, Reijnders, Foden, Semenyo, Savinho, Mubama

Inter XI - Martinez, Pavard, Bisseck, Carlos, Diouf, Barella, Stankovic, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Esposito, Iddrissou

Keep across the action from Hong Kong in our live blog below...

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Key Events

City starting XI

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Foden interview

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Moments away

We are moments away from today's game. Stay tuned for the updates from Hong Kong...

Exciting young stars

There is always a breakout star on tour and with 16 youngsters out of the original group of 28 there should be plenty of opportunities for that. New signing Jeremy Monga and Ryan McAidoo are the two that should excite the most as exciting wingers who love to beat their men and go for goal. Sometimes the new talent is one nobody predicted though, such as Rico Lewis or Nico O’Reilly.

Big moment for striker

You only need to ask Marmoush to realise how difficult it can be to be a striker at City with Haaland being so impressive. Mubama spent last season on loan at Stoke but he suffered a serious injury that scuppered his momentum. He is now back at City and he will be hoping to make an impression on the new boss today.

All eyes on the mixed zone

The midfield makeup will be interesting today given there is so much uncertainty in that area of the pitch. You can’t fully say that any of Rico Lewis, Tijjani Reijnders, Mateo Kovacic or Nico Gonzalez will be part of Maresca’s plans, yet they are all here for now and looking to show what they can do. The mixed zones after games might be more interesting than what goes on on the pitch.

Unpopular role for Lewis

It’s a pretty strong team from Enzo Maresca considering, with Mfuni and Mubama the only youngsters in the XI. Both of those have not only made their City debut but have also spent time out on loan in the Championship, so they are more experienced than many of the youngsters here. It will be interesting to see what happens with Rico Lewis - he has consistently said he wants to play in midfield but always ends up getting shunted to right-back.

Inter starting XI

Here is how the Italian's line-up:

Martinez, Pavard, Bisseck, Carlos, Diouf, Barella, Stankovic, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco, Esposito, Iddrissou

Subs:

Di Gennaro, Provedel, Farronato, Zielinski, Sucic, Luis Henrique, Bonny, Frattesi, Calhanoglu, Bovio, Mosconi, Lavelli, Marello, Maye, Topalovic, Bastoni

Still waiting on Inter team

We are still waiting for the Inter Milan teamsheet but it appears the Italian side have gone strong for this afternoon's game.

Foden gets the armband

Maresca has given Foden a vote of confidence today as he hands the midfielder the armband. City have kept their faith in the 26-year-old and he will be keen to repay them.

Strong opposition

The first Maresca team is in and City will be wearing their new black away kit that they launched the other night on that floating pitch in the harbour. There are plenty of recognisable names in the Inter side, with Nicola Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Benjamin Pavard and Federico Dimarco all starting so this will be a strong test for City.

City starting XI

Here's how City will start vs Inter:

Donnarumma, Lewis, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Mfuni, Kovacic, Reijnders, Foden, Semenyo, Savinho, Mubama

Subs:

Bettinelli, Wint, Chabot, Nico, Ait-Nouri, Reis, Echeverri, Monga, McAidoo, Braithwaite, Mukasa, Alleyne, Sangare, F. Samba, Heskey, Henderson-Hall, Parker

Team news coming soon

We will have City's team news at 11.30am. Who would you like to see get minutes this lunchtime?

Fond memories vs Inter

Those watching at home are being treated to highlights of the 2023 Champions League final against Inter in Istanbul to get them ready for this fixture. Rodri wrote himself into the Blues' folklore and set himself on course to the Ballon d'Or with the winner in this game. He isn't here today but City will be hoping the World Cup winner sticks around for another year, this summer.

Maresca having to live with Guardiola questions

Until he makes his own legacy at City, Maresca will have to live with questions comparing him to Guardiola. He faced another on Friday and answered it well.

It’s the same question from day one. For me, it’s a huge privilege to be here after Pep, after ten years with him. I don’t believe in copy and paste, I think every manager is different, every manager can bring something different, so it’s my target and my duty to introduce some new ideas. In general, it’s a privilege.

While not the end of the world if City lose today, a win would be a nice way to kick off this new era.

Maresca clear on Rodri

The City boss is not panicking about Rodri's future and he made as much clear in his press conference on Friday:

As I said in the press conference, it’s just speculation in this moment. Rodri had surgery last Monday, everything was fine. Now some days off and then back with us when he has finished the holiday.

Rodri on the mind

He is not in Hong Kong today but it is fair to say that Rodri is on the mind of a lot of City supporters, at the moment. The midfielder claimed he would make a decision on his City future after the World Cup. The tournament has now ended, but we are no closer to knowing how he feels. At least in the short-term, we know that he is focusing on his recovery from a minor back operation. Beyond that, remains to be seen...

Huge tour for Foden

With plenty of first team stars missing, it feels like this is a big tour for Phil Foden to back up his punchy words about feeling fresh. Everyone at City wants Foden to get back to his best and there is a feeling that a change could be what he needs after ten years with Guardiola. Words help but it is Foden’s feet that needs to do the talking now and he can cement a place in Maresca’s starting XI for the beginning of the season if he turns it on in Asia.

Foden is loved in Asia

Inter are perhaps more favoured with the promoters here given the sizeable Italian presence in their squad who are here given they weren’t at the World Cup. There was a question for Maresca yesterday over Haaland’s absence despite it only being a few weeks since Norway were at the World Cup. However, City trained in the stadium last night in front of fans and Phil Foden is seen as a big star.

Look who's back

Some familiar faces are back with the City group ahead of the new season!

Maresca's introduction

Enzo Maresca was all smiles at his press conference yesterday when several journalists talked about the pressure accompanied with this match. All eyes will be on Maresca as he follows Guardiola but nobody is likely to remember the winner of the Asahi Super Dry trophy after a week. The City boss spoke of wanting to see the patterns that he has started to introduce in the last few weeks.

Foden interview

Ahead of the game in Hong Kong, Foden has been speaking to MEN Sport about missing out on the World Cup, rediscovering his best form and his new contract.

Read the interview in full here>>>

City predicted XI

Gianluigi Donnarumma will be the Blues' first choice this season and will start in goal. The back four in front of him will look very different. Matheus Nunes links up with the squad later today, so this game is a chance for Rico Lewis to get some minutes in at right-back. Fresh off their new contracts, Abdukodir Khusanov should start alongside Josko Gvardiol in the centre, with Rayan Ait-Nouri at left-back.

Read more here>>>

WATCH - Latest episode of Talking City podcast

Ahead of today's game, why not catch up on the latest episode of the Talking City podcast. Alex James and Simon Bajkowski discuss the tour squad, Savinho and the goalkeeper situation.

Take a look here>>>

Maresca's thoughts pre-match

Speaking on Friday ahead of today's game, it was clear what the focus is for Maresca:

Tomorrow is the first game, for us it’s always an opportunity to try to improve, to get better. I think now we are in a process where we can play these kinds of games, also for the physical condition and we are happy to be here and train here and play the game tomorrow.

Inter travelling squad

Here is the Inter squad for today's game. Plenty of unfamiliar names to City fans:

Josep Martinez, Ivan Provedel, Raffaele Di Gennaro, Alessandro Bastoni, Yann Bisseck, Benjamin Pavard, Carlos Augusto, Federico Dimarco, Luis Henrique, Nicolò Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Piotr Zielinski, Hakan Calhanoglu, Petar Sucic, Andy Diouf, Davide Frattesi, Aleksandar Stankovic, Francesco Pio Esposito, Ange-Yoan Bonny, Matteo Farronato, Kouadio Yvan Maye, Leonardo Bovio, Mattia Marello, Luka Topalovic, Matteo Lavelli, Mattia Mosconi, Jamal Iddrissou

City travelling squad

Goalkeepers: Marcus Bettinelli, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jack Wint, Max Chabot

Defenders: Rayan Ait-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov, Kaden Braithwaite, Max Alleyne, Rico Lewis, Matty Henderson-Hall, Stephen Mfuni

Midfielders: Tijjani Reijnders, Mateo Kovacic, Nico Gonzalez, Claudio Echeverri, Floyd Samba, Jaden Heskey, Xavier Parker

Forwards: Savinho, Jeremy Monga, Antoine Semenyo, Phil Foden, Ryan McAidoo, Divine Mukasa, Divin Mubama, Mahamadou Sangare

Read more about the selections and who had missed out here>>>

How to watch City vs Inter

Kick-off time and location: City face Inter today as part of the Hong Kong Football Festival. The match will be played at the Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong, with kick-off scheduled for 12:30pm UK time.

UK TV channel and coverage details: The fixture will not be shown on traditional television channels such as Sky Sports or TNT Sports in the United Kingdom.

Read more here>>>

Hello!

Hello and welcome along to our live coverage of City's first pre-season fixture against Inter Milan.

The Blues' squad looks very different to the one that lost to Aston Villa on the final day of the season in May. Bernardo, Stones and Guardiola have all departed the Etihad Stadium. Maresca has since succeeded the legendary head coach, and all eyes will be on him this afternoon as he leads out City for the first time.

Today's starting line-up is guaranteed to be different to the one that faces Arsenal in Cardiff in two weeks' time. A number of senior players are still on their post-World Cup breaks, so fans can expect to see a mixture of first-team and youth players today.

Stay tuned for updates from Hong Kong...

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