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Manchester City International Champions Cup Preview

By Duncan Kwok

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 13: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Leicester City at Etihad Stadium on May 13, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 13: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City reacts during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Leicester City at Etihad Stadium on May 13, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City will get prepared for the upcoming season by playing in the pre-season tournament International Champions Cup, they will face domestic and European elite teams such as Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs and Real Madrid. These matches will give fans a glimpse of Guardiola’s tactics for the upcoming season as well as an opportunity for new boys Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker and Douglas Luiz to shine.

Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspurs

I expect this game to be an intense game of football, Kyle Walker will get a bit of stick from Tottenham Hotspur fans but this should serve him well when the two sides meet in the English Premier League. Pep Guardiola will hope to get a win in this match even though it is only a pre-season match, he will want to prove that he can beat Pochettino’s young team after they won the last two Premier League matches including a 4-1 thrashing of Manchester City. Another area of focus in the match will be the duel of Kyle Walker against presumably Kieran Tripper.  Many said that at the end of last season that Tripper has all the attributes to be just as good as Walker if not even better, this match could very well see whether Manchester City bought the number one English right-back. While many will also want to see whether the hype that Jadon Sancho has generated is genuine or whether he is another overrated flop, Tottenham wanted to include him in the deal for Walker and this match could see whether Tottenham should have pushed to include Sancho in the deal.

Scoreline- 1-1

For me, Tottenham has lost a key player in Walker and haven’t strengthened however they still have enough quality to hold Manchester City to a draw.

Manchester City vs Manchester United

The Manchester Derby will always generate plenty of tension and drama, even in pre-season, I don’t doubt that happening. Fans last year were mightily disappointed when the teams cancelled their pre-season matches in Beijing due to the pitch being too wet and they will hope the same situation doesn’t happen again. There is so much that we can take from this match, whether both teams will qualify in the Top 4 or perhaps more crucially which team can win the Premier League. Both teams have done significant strengthening in the transfer window with United bring in Romleu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof and City bringing Bernardo Silva, Kyle Walker and Douglas Luiz.

Scoreline-1-2

Manchester United will nick the win from City’s noses not because of Romelu Lukaku but rather Marcus Rashford who was outstanding against LA Galaxy, City though can cause some trouble for the United defence as Gabriel Jesus tries to pick up from where he left off last season.

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

If Manchester City truly does intend to win the Champions League then they will have to beat European heavyweights like Real Madrid. However, this match might just be too early for Manchester City with Real Madrid fresh off winning the Champions League two times in a row. If the Manchester City defence manages to keep Cristiano Ronaldo to no goals that will be mightily impressive. Another important thing will be whether Ilkay Gundogan who should be recovered from injury and whoever else plays in the midfield can seize control in the midfield against the midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casermiro. The midfield is usually whether the is fought and that definitely applies in this match when the Real Madrid midfield gets control of the midfield, the match is 2 times harder for their opponents with their passing and skill making it so hard for their opponents to get a foothold on the match.

Scoreline 0-2

A match that comes too early for Manchester City, however, I expect the whole team to benefit from this match. Youngsters such as Jadon Sancho and Tosin Adarabioyo will learn how the best of the best play while the new signings will continue to gel with the rest of the team.

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