City head coach Pep Guardiola (L) during training. (Photo : Getty Images)
Champions League qualifiers Manchester City FC will test the system of new head coach Pep Guardiola as they go against last season's lowly team Sunderland AFC, who will also feature a new manager in David Moyes, at the Etihad Stadium this Saturday, August 13 for their maiden match in the 2016-2017 Premier League season.
The game will be the official debut of Guardiola in the English top flight competitions and he will bring with him a winning tradition that he had cultivated since the 2007-2008 season with Barcelona.
In his eight-year head coaching career, the Spanish bench tactician only missed a title once, during his last term in Barcelona when the team finished runners-up to Real Madrid in the 2011-2012 season. All his other seven seasons as head coach, four for Barça and three for Bayern Munich, ended up with the league championship.
The team will also unveil some new players, such as Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund, Nolito from Celta Vigo, Leroy Sané from Schalke, and their latest £47 million signing John Stones from Everton.
City fell to Arsenal, 2-3, during their final preseason friendly held at the Ullevi Stadium on Monday as strikers Sergio Agüero and Kelechi Iheanacho scored a goal each, as per SkySports.
Meanwhile, Sunderland will be led by former Manchester United manager David Moyes starting this season as he replaced
The team had not been active during the summer transfer window as the Scottish mentor is said to be keen on spending moderately at this moment.
The Black Cats' only new signing so far this summer is defender Papy Djilobodji from Chelsea for a fee of £8 million last week, but there were rumors that Moyes could also snag striker Adnan Januzaj in a season-long loan deal from United.
Sunderland held Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund to a 1-1 draw at the Cashpoint Arena last Friday to conclude their preseason, via Daily Mail Online.
City is the stronger team on paper as compared to Sunderland and with Guardiola at the helm, it is expected that they will pull off a convincing win over their opening day opponents.
The predicted result is a 3-1 victory for Manchester City.
Manchester City starting lineup (3-4-3 formation): Hart; Zabaleta, Stones, Kolarov; Sterling, Fernandinho, Delph, Clichy; Silva, Agüero, Nolito
Sunderland starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Mannone; Rodwell, Koné, Kaboul, van Aanholt; O'Shea, Cattermole; Watmore, Lens, Khazri; Borini
