The electric winger, who joined us this summer from sister club Troyes, made his debut at Chelsea in our first top-flight game of the 2024/25 season but had to come off at half-time because of an issue with his knee.
Pep Guardiola said in his post-match press conference that it was ‘not a big problem’ and so it’s proved with the 20-year-old in the starting line-up for the second game running as City aim to start our Etihad campaign with a three-point haul.
Meanwhile, returning hero Ilkay Gundogan was back at the CFA yesterday to put pen to paper on a one-year deal after leaving Barcelona.
He joined us subject to international clearance which has now come through, ensuring his involvement this afternoon for the 15:00 (UK) kick-off as he takes his place on the bench.
It’s an unchanged starting first XI today, with Oscar Bobb unavailable as he recovers from a long-term injury while Rodrigo is not quite ready to play after his exertions this summer with Spain, although the manager said ‘he’s getting better’ when quizzed on his fitness pre-match.
City’s England duo of John Stones and Kyle Walker both take their place on the bench as they did at Stamford Bridge, while Phil Foden misses out through illness.
TEAM
CITY XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho, Doku, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Walker, Stones, Ake, Grealish, Gundogan, Nunes, Kabore, McAtee
TACTICS
Ederson starts in goal and will be protected by a back four of Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.
Mateo Kovacic, in the deeper holding role in the absence of Rodrigo, will aim to dominate the battle ground of midfield alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva who will look to both support the Croatian and also offer attacking impetus to the champions.
Up top, Erling Haaland is the focal point with Savinho and Jeremy Doku on the wings as they look to deliver high-quality service to the star striker.
Haaland has scored at least once against all 22 sides he’s faced in the Premier League – and will look to add Ipswich to his list this afternoon!
Start for Savinho
Savinho has already made quite the impression since joining us from sister club, Troyes, this summer.
He showed his pace, panache and precision when he came on in the Community Shield victory over Manchester United and bagged a goal in the penalty shootout, his calm, cool attitude and application defying his age.
The 20-year-old then started against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and caused major problems in the first half before having to come off injured.
His trickery, tenacity to drive at goal and technical eminence all made it a competitive debut to remember.
The manager said after the game that Savinho has the ‘personality to be a top player’ and today offers another opportunity to showcase that.
It’s fitting, too, that the Brazilian graces the Etihad for the first time on the very day we hold our ‘Bahia in Manchester’ festivities at the stadium.
They’re creating a carnival atmosphere ahead of kick-off and if Savinho’s samba skills lead to victory on the pitch today, we’ll be in party mood after the game too.
Gundo return to raise the roof
It will be an emotional moment – for him and for us!
Ilkay Gundogan will be given a hero’s welcome this afternoon as he makes a hugely popular return to the Etihad after a year away.
Gundogan, our captain when we achieved a historic Treble in 2022/23, left for a new challenge at the end of that season and headed for La Liga and Barcelona.
When it looked like the charming, classy and courageous midfield ace could be available for a move this past week, City fans flooded social media with pleas to get the deal done.
And that’s exactly what happened, with Pep Guardiola admitting in his pre-match press conference that there was no hesitation when the chance to sign the German came up.
After receiving international clearance, he comes straight into the squad for today’s Tractor Boys test.
He will cheered from the moment he arrives at the stadium this afternoon to the moment he leaves this evening – but just imagine the noise levels if he does come on to the pitch at any stage of the game?
Match stats
-This is the first meeting between City and Ipswich in any competition since January 2002, with City - then in the second tier - beat Premier League Ipswich 4-1 at Portman Road in the FA Cup.
-This will be Ipswich’s first ever meeting with City at the Etihad Stadium – they won their last two visits to Maine Road - a Premier League game 3-2 in November 2000 and a League Cup tie 2-1 the following month.
-City have won 17 of our last 18 Premier League games against promoted sides (D1) since a 2-1 home loss to Leeds in April 2021.
-Bernardo Silva’s assist for Erling Haaland in City’s opening weekend victory was his 43rd in the Premier League, the joint-most of any Portuguese player in the competition’s history (level with Nani).
-Ipswich haven’t scored in any of their last seven away league games against the reigning top-flight champions (D1 L6), losing the last three by an aggregate score of 15-0. They last scored in such a game in April 1984 (2-2 v Liverpool), while their last such victory was in October 1981 (1-0 v Aston Villa).
-Ipswich lost 2-0 against Liverpool in their opening match of 2024/25 – not since 2006/07 in the Championship have they started a league season with two straight defeats, while they last did so in the top-flight in 1985/86.
-Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna will be the 14th different manager whose first ever Premier League away game came against the reigning champions. None of the previous 13 have won (D2 L11), with Mark McGhee (1-1 v Man Utd in 1994) and Claudio Ranieri (3-3 v Man Utd in 2000) the only ones to earn a point.
