Manchester City have made the short trip from Hong Kong to South Korea, where they face the K-League All-Stars at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Wednesday in the second fixture of Enzo Maresca’s reign.
Maresca’s tenure began with a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan on Saturday, before City lost 3-1 on penalties. The Italian’s side will now tackle the best of the K-League, and then Atletico Madrid on Sunday, before rounding off pre-season with the Community Shield against Arsenal on August 16.
Midfielder Nico Gonzalez, who played 45 minutes against Inter, says the squad are steadily building an understanding of Maresca’s methods following the departure of Pep Guardiola.
“We’re learning more about Maresca’s methods every day,” he told the club’s official website. “We won’t know everything that we could learn during the year before the first week of the season, but even when one year has passed, we will always keep learning. That’s football and that’s life.
“It’s not easy because some players will come [back from the World Cup] the same week as the Community Shield, but for us that have been here since day one it’s going to be easier to be ready for that match. The season is so long so we have to keep being ready to adapt to new things that Enzo asks us.”
The Spaniard says there are echoes of Guardiola’s approach in his successor’s ideas, adding: “I’ve been enjoying our sessions with Enzo. Obviously there are differences to last year with Pep but there are a lot of similarities in the way we are playing. It’s the same whole idea of high pressure and getting the ball as quick as possible and doing a lot of passes. It’s important that we keep the same level as we’ve been playing the last years and with that ambition. I think those are the ideas of Enzo and I am loving it.”
Team News for Manchester City v K-League All-Stars
Rodri remains unavailable for City having undergone a minor back operation after helping Spain win the World Cup, while Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson, James Trafford and Nico O’Reilly are also missing as they continue their extended breaks. John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake have all left the club this summer, with Elliot Anderson arriving from Nottingham Forest as City’s standout signing so far.
Despite those absences, Maresca can still call upon plenty of quality, with Josko Gvardiol, Savinho, Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo all set to be involved again after featuring against Inter.
The K-League All-Stars squad will be led by Chung Jung-yong, head coach of reigning league champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, alongside Chung Kyung-ho of Gangwon FC. Jordan international Yazan Al-Arab, highly-rated FC Seoul teenager Son Jeong-beom and former Premier League midfielder Ki Sung-yueng – who played for Swansea City, Sunderland and Newcastle – are all in contention to feature.
Expected line-ups for Manchester City v K-League All-Stars
K-League All Stars: Hyeon-woo; Young-gwon, Jin-seop, Joo-sung, Tae-hwan; Sung-yeung, Soon-min, Bojanic; Farias, Cesinha, Mota
Manchester City: Donnarumma; Lewis, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Mfuni; Kovacic, Reijnders; Savinho, Foden, Semenyo; Mubama
How to watch Manchester City v K-League All-Stars: TV and online streams
Manchester City v K-League All Stars kicks off at 12:00 UK time on Wednesday. The match is not on free-to-air TV in the UK but will be shown live worldwide, except in South Korea, via City’s subscription streaming service, CITY+, available from £9.99 per month or £34.99 annually.
Stats for Manchester City v K-League All Stars
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Manchester City and a K-League All-Stars side
- The K-League All-Stars have previously faced Barcelona, Tottenham, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Newcastle United in pre-season friendlies
- They beat Newcastle 1-0 in their most recent such outing in July 2025, and are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time
- City drew 1-1 with Inter Milan in their pre-season opener on Saturday before losing 3-1 on penalties
Prediction for Manchester City v K-League All Stars
Facing a representative side packed with the K-League’s best players should provide a stern test for City’s youthful travelling squad, and one both head coaches will want to use to encourage attacking, front-footed football. Expect a tight, high-scoring contest, but City’s superior overall quality should just about see them through.
Prediction: K-League All Stars 2-3 Manchester City
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