Manchester City vs. Roma: Team News, Preview, Live Stream & TV Info
Manchester City's preseason preparations continue to gather pace in Australia. After their 1-0 win against Melbourne City, they now face Roma at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in their first International Champions Cup match.
The two teams famously met in last season's Champions League. The first game at the Etihad finished 1-1, with City putting in a disappointing showing, but the return match in Rome was a classic. City won 2-0—their best Champions League performance ever—and progressed to the knockout stages for the second year running.
This match is set to be far less fraught. Both sets of players have yet to reach optimum fitness ahead of the new campaign, meaning it's a fixture far more about fine-tuning than winning. It should, however, be an entertaining spectacle, nonetheless.
Date: Tuesday, July 21
Kick-Off: 10:45 a.m. BST, 5:45 a.m. ET
TV Listings: Sky Sports 1 (UK), Fox Sports 1 (US)
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), Fox Soccer 2Go (US)
Form Guide
City
City 2-0 Southampton
Swansea 2-4 City
City 6-0 QPR
Tottenham 0-1 City
City 3-2 Aston Villa
Roma
Roma 1-2 Palermo
Lazio 1-2 Roma
Roma 2-1 Udinese
Milan 2-1 Roma
Roma 2-0 Genoa
Predicted Formations
City: (4-4-1-1)
Hart; Maffeo, Kompany, Humphreys, Clichy; Fernando, Toure, Barker, Navas; Nasri; Dzeko
Roma: (4-3-3)
De Sanctis; Maicon, Yanga-Mbiwa, Castan, Cole; Ucan, De Rossi, Nainggolan; Falque, Totti, Gervinho
Players to Watch
City: Yaya Toure
City midfielder Yaya Toure faces a critical season. At 32, there are question marks over his ability. Is he still one of the most powerful and dynamic midfielders in the game? Or is he a fading star whose influence is on the wane?
With no World Cup this summer and no Africa Cup of Nations tournament in January, Toure will no doubt be fresher this season. He will be desperate to show people he is still a force to reckoned with.
Roma: Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti became the oldest scorer of a Champions League goal when he equalised in the game between these two sides at the Etihad back in September, aged 38 years and three days.
He's a remarkable, supremely talented player with a wonderful appreciation of the game, and his one-club loyalty marks him out as a true great of his era in the sport. It's always a pleasure to see him play.
His 243 Serie A goals are the second-highest total in the league's history.
Key Battle
Yaya Toure vs. Daniele De Rossi
Two of the finest midfielders plying their trade in Europe could go to head-to-head in Melbourne.
Daniele De Rossi, a World Cup winner with Italy, is one of Serie A's greatest players of recent years. He's played 364 league games for Roma, winning two Coppa Italias, and is considered a club great.
Toure, too, has garnered a reputation as one of the best in the world since he moved to City. At Barcelona, where he won the Champions League and two La Liga titles, he was used exclusively in a defensive-midfield role, but at the Etihad, he has had his remit expanded. Few players have the same mix of pace, power, intelligence and passing accuracy.
Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and follows the club from a Manchester base. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.
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