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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.
Preston, on the other hand, have since begun preparations for the upcoming season with a series of pre-season games.
They traveled to face Accrington Stanley on Saturday for their last pre-season game, which finished 1-1. Jamie Thomas gave Preston the lead before Joe Pritchard leveled the tie for the home side.
Manchester City vs Preston North End Head-to-Head
Manchester City and Preston have met 94 times in the past. The Etihad club have won 43 of those meetings while Preston have won 33. The other 18 games have all ended in draws.
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
Manchester City vs Preston North End Predicted XI
Manchester City predicted XI (4-3-3): Scott Carson, Yan Couto, Phillipe Sandler, Luke Mbete, Benjamin Mendy, Fernandinho, Romeo Lavia, Benjamin Knight, Riyad Mahrez, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap
Preston North End predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Declan Rudd, Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsey, Andrew Hughes, Greg Cunningham, Tom Barkhuizen, Ryan Ledson, Benjamin Whiteman, Alan Browne, Emil Rise, Sean Maguire
Manchester City vs Preston North End Prediction
Preston have already played five pre-season games while this is Manchester City's first, so fitness levels are expected to be high for the away side.
Manchester City should, however, have enough firepower to get the win and kickstart their pre-season run.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Preston North End
