Manchester City vs. AC Milan: Preview and Prediction for Wednesday's Friendly

The preseason friendly between English Premier League titans Manchester City and Serie A's AC Milan kicks off the Audi Cup, but it will be absent at least one potentially huge storyline.

As Shane Farrington of Goal.com reports, superstar striker Mario Balotelli will not be in action for Milan due to his recent return from Confederations Cup action in Brazil.

It would have been Balotelli's first match against his former EPL club since leaving for the San Siro in a January transfer deal, per the Daily Mail's Adam Shergold.

David Clayton reports on the official Manchester City website that City defender Matija Nastasic will not be available for the Sky Blues either, which somewhat neutralizes the fact that Balotelli won't be in action.

Pride is always at stake when clubs from some of world football's best competition square off, and that will be precisely the case in Munich's Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

Perhaps if there were more than a couple days at Balotelli's disposal to rest, he could have suited up against his former club. However, manager Massimiliano Allegri is wisely erring on the side of caution to keep his polarizing star fresh.

Other than those two notable absences for Milan, both sides should be at full strength among the players who are able to make it out to Germany, which should make for an extremely entertaining showcase.

The fact that at least City's whole club traveled to this four-team, biennial event, per Clayton, shows that it is gaining prestige and is a reflection of the desire to prove to each other which team is best.

In this particular matchup, with Milan just beginning the preseason and missing such a key source of firepower on the attack, it would appear that the EPL club has the advantage.

After all, there is some momentum carrying over for the Sky Blues after their triumphs in Hong Kong against South China and Sunderland in the final to capture the Premier League Asia Trophy.

It's hard to imagine a better way for City to continue this wave of positivity than beating class teams such as Milan, and the winner of the matchup between Bayern Munich and Brazil's Sao Paulo.

In the previous two efforts at this tournament, Milan has come in fourth on each occasion. While this will be the Sky Blues' first crack at it. Those prior results may not have any bearing on the present, but since this is the Rossoneri's second fixture of the summer, the slide is likely to continue.

Thus, look for Manchester City to sport a better attack than Milan, who will be without its top weapon in Balotelli, and for the Sky Blues to continue their good form with a decisive victory.

Prediction: Manchester City 3, AC Milan 1