Manchester City VS Preston Club Friendly Live Football Score 27 Jul 2021
Manchester City are scheduled to play their only pre-season friendly of the summer when they face Preston North End on Tuesday. The Premier League champions have been forced to changed their plans as a result of new coronavirus restrictions leading to the postponement of their trip to France later this week.
City are, in theory, behind their rivals with regards to preparations for the new season having yet to take to the pitch since the summer break. Nevertheless, a lack of game time did not hinder Pep Guardiola’s side during the last campaign, and the Spaniard is unlikely to be too concerned at this stage.
The biggest blow came when a coronavirus outbreak among the club’s academy players forced Guardiola to rethink his plans for the short trip to Deepdale.
Guardiola wanted to assess some of his prospects at the Etihad Stadium, but he will now use the behind-closed-doors fixture to get his senior players up to speed ahead of the Community Shield on August 8.
At a time when newspaper reports about finances and regulations threaten to distract City, Preston are fully focused on putting the final touches to their pre-season.
Head coach Frankie McAvoy will have cut a frustrated figure in recent days after new arrival Izzy Brown sustained an Achilles injury which will keep him sidelined for several months.Failure to defeat either Bolton Wanderers or Accrington Stanley is also less than ideal at a time when the new boss is attempting to turn Preston into playoff contenders.
Manchester City take on Championship side Preston North End on Tuesday in their first pre-season game of the campaign.
The game is set to be played behind closed doors after a COVID-19 outbreak at Manchester City’s training ground.
Pep Guardiola’s men’s last game was the UEFA Champions League final clash in which they lost 1-0 to Chelsea. A first-half goal from Kai Havertz proved to be the decisive strike as Manchester City could not find a way back into the game.
Manchester City won the Premier League and the EFL Cup last season. However, the Etihad outfit failed to deliver on Europe’s biggest stage once again as they lost in the final of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola will undoubtedly be looking to deliver Manchester City its first-ever Champions League trophy next season.
Manchester City vs Preston North End Head-to-Head
The two sides last met in September 2019 in a round three game of the EFL Cup, with Manchester City winning 3-0.
First-half goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus and an own goal from Ryan Ledson clinched the win for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Manchester City form guide: yet to play
Preston North End form guide: D-L-W-D-W
Manchester City vs Preston North End Team News
Manchester City
Manchester City will be without a number of senior players when they take on Preston on Tuesday. Players who were at the Euros or Copa America are currently on holiday and will not be available for the game.
These players include England’s Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, John Stones, Kyle Walker and Portugal’s Ruben Dias and Bernado Silva.
Ferran Torres, Rodrigo and Aymeric Laporte will all be absent as well, as they represented Spain at Euro 2020. Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus and Ederson will also be unavailable. Other players set to miss out include Kevin de Bruyne, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Nathan Ake and Ilkay Gundogan.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Not available: Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Bernado Silva, Ferran Torres, Rodrigo, Aymeric Laporte, Gabriel Jesus, Ederson, Kevin de Bruyne, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Nathan Ake, Ilkay Gundogan
Preston North End
Preston boss Frankie McAvoy has a relatively full-strength squad to select from as only midfielder Izzy Brown is out with injury. Brown suffered a ruptured Achilles in training and is set to be on the sidelines for a while.
Matthew Olosunde is a doubt as the right-back was on the end of a number of heavy tackles in Preston’s game against St Johnstone two weeks ago.
Midfielder Daniel Johnson is unavailable as he is currently away on international duty with Jamaica. Paul Huntington is also absent due to personal reasons.
Injured: Izzy Brown
Doubtful: Matthew Olosunde
Suspended: None
Not available: Daniel Johnson, Paul Huntington