Manchester City

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

This was the first meeting between the two sides in 24 years since they faced each other in the old First Division, and Manchester City came out on top to extend their unbeaten run to 31 games against promoted sides.

The full-time statistics from this game will show City as having 78% possession, 15 shots and attempting 800 passes, but they were fortunate to somehow escape with all three points.

Enzo Maresca's side needed two late goals to rescue a result in the opening game against Bournemouth and, although this was another narrow victory at Etihad Stadium, it will continue to build their confidence and momentum.

Despite being the start of a new season, Erling Haaland continues to find the back of the net with regularity. He has now scored against 24 of the 25 Premier League sides he has faced, apart from Sunderland.

Summer signing Elliot Anderson was the best player on the park, making an incredible 155 passes - one of three City players, alongside centre-backs Marc Guehi and Ruben Dias, to attempt more than a century of passes.

Enzo Fernandez slipped seamlessly into the starting XI despite getting a late call-up for a winning debut, but Frank Lampard and his Coventry side will be left ruing the gilt-edged opportunities that fell their way.

Taiwo Awoniyi should have hit the target when through on goal, and it proved extremely costly.

Coventry have lost their opening three games without finding the net for the first time in their history, with Lampard winning only one of his past 20 Premier League games.

Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "I really liked today for different reasons. First half we could have scored one or two more, but we worked together to win so I am happy.

"It is difficult against teams in a low block, I felt we dealt very well with that. Anxiety from the fans is normal, nine out of 10 of these games you end with bad feeling, but it is important to win 1-0.

"Not all the performances are going to be nice, you also need ugly moments."

On Nico O'Reilly, who dropped out of the starting line-up following an injury in the warm-up: "In warm up [Nico] O'Reilly felt something in his back, not serious. Enzo [Fernandez] came in, his first appearance in front of the home fans was ideal.

"And [Ayyoub] Bouaddi came in last moments, difficult situation, he will improve no doubt. These players all need time."

Manchester City's Iliman Ndiaye, speaking to Final Score: "Very good [game]. Started with a win, so couldn't get any better. Felt great, obviously we wanted to win the game. It has been difficult.

"Like we said to each other, all the games are going to be hard. The last few days have been really good. Obviously, I am at Manchester City now, so I am happy. Happy the move got done. The lads have been welcoming me very good."

On leaving Everton: "It was hard. The fans and obviously one of my daughters was born there, so it was difficult. It is football, you know. I said I wanted to be playing at the highest level, playing in the big leagues - the Champions League.

"Worked really hard since I was young. Obviously, the moment finally arrived. I am not going to stop here - it is just the beginning."

On Enzo Maresca: "Been amazing. Top Manager. I just can't wait to see what the future holds for us."

Listen to Maresca and Ndiaye speak to BBC Radio Manchester here

Did you know?

• Iliman Ndiaye became the first Senegalese player to play for Manchester City in the Premier League, the 57th different nation to represent the club in the competition.

• Erling Haaland's opener was his 20th headed goal in the Premier League, more than any other Manchester City player in the competition's history.

• Haaland's winner was his 300th goal in all competitions in his top-flight club career, in his 368th appearance.

• Antoine Semenyo's assist for Man City's opener was his 50th goal involvement in the Premier League (37 goals, 13 assists), the second Ghanaian to reach this milestone after Jordan Ayew (67).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Man City's performance

What did you make of Coventry's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are seven games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Newcastle v Bournemouth (12:30)

• Brentford v Sunderland

• Brighton v Leeds

• Fulham v Crystal Palace

• Man City v Coventry - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Nottingham Forest v Tottenham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Hull v Aston Villa (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated.

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This is a tale of two Citys - one of whom has made the best of starts to the season, while the other has had the worst.

Manchester City wiped the floor with Crystal Palace last week but it was their comeback to beat Bournemouth at the Etihad which felt bigger, because it was the beginning of a new era under Enzo Maresca.

In contrast, Coventry City have had a terrible time. Not their 3-0 opening defeat at Arsenal, because they can forget about that, but they must feel so deflated after losing 1-0 at home to another promoted side in Hull City last time out.

That must have hurt.

This game is more like the Arsenal one, in that no-one is expecting Coventry to get anything, but the upshot is they are likely to be left without a point or even a goal after their first three games.

There were some doubts about Manchester City after the way they lost the Community Shield against Arsenal, but they look a different proposition already.

Maresca has made more signings in the past few days, including Enzo Fernandez from his old club Chelsea for £125m. I've heard people question whether Fernandez is worth the big money that City paid, but Maresca knows him well and I see him as a great addition to their midfield.

I said before the Bournemouth game I didn't think they could win the title without Rodri, but they have rebuilt their midfield now with Fernandez and Ayyoub Bouaddi joining Elliot Anderson as new signings, and they have got real strength in there now.

I like Erling Haaland's new haircut too. It suits him far more than a ponytail. He looks a bit rougher and tougher and I don't think Coventry will keep him out.

Sutton's prediction: 3-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Matt Jones
BBC Sport journalist

Life back in the Premier League after 25 years away does not get any easier for Coventry City. They visit Manchester City on Saturday (15:00 BST) in their third game of the new season.

Manchester City flexed their muscles last time out with a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace. After only just edging past Bournemouth in their first game, new head coach Enzo Maresca has enjoyed an encouraging start in the unenviable position of replacing Pep Guardiola.

For Coventry head coach Frank Lampard, things have been a lot less straightforward. They have lost both of their first two games and are yet to score a goal.

Man City new boys may have to wait

The sense of a new era at Manchester City has been prevalent all summer and was rammed home even further on the final day of the transfer window. Enzo Fernandez arrived in a joint-British transfer record £125m deal from Chelsea, as did Iliman Ndiaye in an initial £60m switch from Everton.

Given the way Saturday's hosts played last time out, both players may need to wait for their chance to start. Against Palace, it was Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki who did the damage, with two goals apiece.

Haaland has scored 19 goals in 20 Premier League appearances against newly promoted teams, which could be ominous for Coventry.

As for Cherki, after his two assists against Bournemouth on the opening weekend, he scored the first double of his league career in the win at Palace. Only Bruno Fernandes, with three goals and one assist, can match the Frenchman's four goal contributions from the opening two games.

Only Morgan Rogers, with nine, has created more chances than Cherki in the Premier League so far this season too, albeit the Chelsea man has been on the pitch for 63 more minutes.

The arrival of Ndiaye means that, along with Cherki, Jeremy Doku and Antoine Semenyo, Maresca has four of the best dribblers in the division to call on.

Early struggles for Sky Blues

Although an opener at Arsenal was always going to be tough for Coventry, Lampard as disappointed by what he witnessed in the 1-0 defeat by Hull City on home soil last weekend.

Given how free-scoring his team were in the second tier last season – 97 goals in 46 games – there would have been more hope of the side operating with a bit more attacking verve back in the top flight.

But so far, only Aston Villa have struggled to make more of an impact in the final third than the Sky Blues in terms of xG, shots on target and touches in the opposition box.

This fixture will not define Coventry's season, but Lampard will be looking for an improved performance from his team. The former Chelsea and Everton boss could also do with a boost given his own struggles at this level.

Lampard has won just four of his past 32 Premier League matches (D8 L20), including just one of his past 19 in the competition (D4 L14), at Bournemouth in 2023 when he was in interim charge of Chelsea.

Huzaifah Khan
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Coventry City at Etihad Stadium (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• On the latest team news, Maresca confirmed Matheus Nunes is back and will be in the squad but Jeremy Doku remains out.

• On whether deadline day £125m signing Enzo Fernandez will be included, he said: "Enzo is ready."

• The Italian boss also touched on Fernandez's qualities, saying: "He knows how to win - World Cup, Club World Cup - and the main thing is that he's a winner."

• On whether the squad are happy with the Fernandez signing, he added: "I just said he is a winner and when you belong to a squad and another winning player arrives, they are always happy. I can promise you that in the last four or five days, four or five players from the squad were asking if he is coming or not because they want him to be with us."

• On whether he will be part of the leadership group: "No, the captain is Ruben [Dias], Erling [Haaland], Marc Guehi and Gianluigi Donnarumma."

• On City's other deadline day signing, Iliman Ndiaye: "He is so good. In the last two days, you can see already how good he is in terms of one-v-one in terms of the last third, inside the box. I am very happy to have him with us."

• On his view of the club's business in the transfer window, he said the squad is "complete" and "now it is time to work".

• Finally, on facing Coventry and the job Frank Lampard is doing there, Maresca said: "For me, he did a fantastic job last season and he is going to do a fantastic job this season again."

• He added: "I can see clearly what they want to do on the ball and off the ball and no doubt that tomorrow is going to be a difficult game because all the Premier League games are difficult."

Listen to full match commentary for Manchester City v Coventry City on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra with coverage starting at 14:30 BST on Saturday

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Got a question about Man City? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts

Alex Bysouth
BBC Sport Senior Journalist

The 'here we go' is on hold, the 'bombas' are done and dusted and the window panes are reverberating after being forcefully closed on Tuesday night.

Now comes the moment for new arrivals to make their mark on the pitch rather than the balance sheet.

Throughout the Premier League era there have been hordes of transfer hits and misses, but here we're looking at those signings who proved game-changing for their club and the competition, the ones who really moved the needle.

I've ranked my top 10 and here are my Manchester City choices and where they are placed.

Image source, Getty Images

7. Robinho - Real Madrid to Manchester City, £32.5m, August 2008

It gets somewhat lost in the cloudy narrative of the past, but Robinho had a decent first season at Manchester City, scoring on his Premier League debut and netting 14 times in 31 top-flight games to finish as their top scorer.

Things went downhill from there, but Robinho's performance was less important than what his arrival meant for the future of English football. It was City laying down a marker.

On the day the club were bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group - it also happened to be transfer deadline day - they nabbed one of the world's most prominent players from under the noses of Chelsea for a British record fee.

City finished 10th that season. But 18 years and more than £3bn on transfers later, they have become the most dominant club in England, winning eight titles.

Image source, Getty Images

2. Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid to Manchester City, £35m, July 2011

Sergio Aguero set out on his debut as he meant to go on, scoring twice and setting up another in a 30-minute cameo off the bench against Swansea City.

Manchester City were without a top-flight title since 1968 when the Argentine arrived from Atletico Madrid.

Ten months later he had netted 23 goals in 34 Premier League games, including the one deep into stoppage time that crowned City champions.

City had spent lavishly on forwards previously but the prolific Aguero was a game-changer.

His goals shifted the power balance in Manchester and, after a decade in sky blue, he departed as the club's all-time record scorer with 260 goals to complement his five league titles.

Read Alex's top 10 game-changing transfers in Premier League history and make your own selections here

Umir Irfan
Football tactics correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Enzo Fernandez, Ayyoub Bouaddi, and Elliot Anderson are all players comfortable across several positions in Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca's system.

Maresca has moved between a box and a diamond shape in midfield at City. The main difference between the two shapes is that the former has two natural holding midfielders and the second a single holding midfielder.

Against Bournemouth, Marc Guehi paired Anderson at the base of midfield. Nico O'Reilly, the left-sided attacking midfielder, was joined by right-back Rico Lewis, moving infield to form the box.

Against Crystal Palace, left-back Josko Gvardiol and attacking midfielder O'Reilly flanked number 10 Rayan Cherki as the three ahead of Anderson in what looked like a diamond.

Anderson anchoring the midfield suggests Maresca sees him as Rodri's successor.

While full of praise for Bouaddi, Maresca has stressed his youth, a nod to the fact that he will probably deputise for Anderson.

Bouaddi replaced Anderson against Palace and his short cameo came soon after the introduction of Mateo Kovacic. In pre-season, the Croatian appeared to be Maresca's first choice holding midfielder but has since slid down the pecking order.

When he came on, although starting higher than Bouaddi in the midfield diamond, he dropped deep to get on the ball in holding midfield. When this happened, Bouaddi took Kovacic's position higher up.

These rotations between holding midfield and central midfield are movements Maresca may also encourage Anderson to perform when others fill the space behind him.

Versatility in the midfield four is key. Fernandez, under Maresca, was capable of playing at the base of midfield or as an attacking midfielder on both sides.

The last midfield spot, the number 10 position, has been shared between Phil Foden and Cherki. Although Foden did play right wing against Bournemouth and Palace given City's injuries, Maresca has spoken of his central quality.

Given Foden's promising showings as a box-to-box midfielder last season – there is also a possibility both he and Cherki play through the middle together at some point this season.

Steve Sutcliffe, Emlyn Begley and Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalists

Premier League clubs have broke their all-time summer transfer record with spending reaching £3.49bn.

A total of £506.5m was spent on deadline day itself, up from £391m last year.

The total amount spent during the window considerably dwarfs the £1.13bn spent by clubs just five years ago and underlines the power top English clubs have to attract talent, according to figures provided to BBC Sport by Paul Macdonald, founder of FootballTransfers.com.

Three of the 10 most expensive signings in the history of football have happened this summer – with all of them being Premier League signings. In fact, this summer window featured four of the top flight's five most expensive ever deals.

So maybe it is not surprising then that of the 20 most expensive transfers completed, only six were not to clubs in the English top flight.

Indeed, newly-promoted Ipswich have spent more on new signings than the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus and reigning European champions PSG.

Premier League clubs as a whole were willing to dip deep into their pockets this summer, as 11 of the 20 clubs broke their transfer records, six of them on more than one occasion.

Coventry, promoted to the Premier League alongside Ipswich and Hull, have done so four times over.

Read more on the Premier League's record-breaking transfer spending

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Manchester City's transfer business.

Here are some of your comments:

Paul: Brilliant transfer window. The midfield quality is unbelievable.

Glynn: City's transfer business has been very good, although I think they have overpaid for Enzo Fernández. When are City going to sign a recognised full-back? I fear City will leak goals until the full-back positions are resolved.

Tony: Overall, as a City fan, I think there have mostly been good signings, although I do have reservations about Enzo Fernandez. I don't think he would have made a Guardiola team because of his discipline and overall egocentric attitude. His behaviour during the World Cup was appalling, and some of his England squad team-mates may have issues with him. No doubt he's a skilful player with a great shot, though. Likewise, Geronimo Rulli isn't in the same class as James Trafford. Wouldn't it have been better to have pacified him with offers of more Premier League games?

Stephen: While any new signings are always a calculated risk, essentially City have swapped their fringe players for new, young and exciting talent that could potentially form the backbone of the team for some time. This has to be a positive.

Alan: Should have kept James Trafford and Nico Gonzalez and not bought Enzo Fernandez for £30m saved. Gianluigi Donnarumma can go if needs be.

George: As a whole, I think City have had a really solid window. Considering how much we have lost in the last year or two, the replacements we have brought in are definitely exciting. Buying big in midfield with Elliot Anderson, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Enzo Fernandez to replace basically our entire midfield due to contract departures and sales was definitely necessary.

Arsenal have started the new Premier League season with two wins as the transfer window closes, looking in ominous shape to retain the crown they won for the first time in 22 years last season.

Have their main rivals done enough to prevent Mikel Arteta's side winning a second successive title?

And what are the other big issues as the Premier League's transfer business was concluded until January?

Manchester City have undergone heavy transition, from manager Pep Guardiola being replaced after 10 years by Enzo Maresca, to the departure of key figures in their glory years such as Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Jack Grealish, as well as Savio, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzales, James Trafford, Nathan Ake and Tijjani Reijnders.

The burning ambition remains, however, as proved by the manner in which they have attacked the market to replenish their squad for a title tilt.

City paid £125m – equalling the British transfer record - to reunite former Chelsea manager Maresca with Enzo Fernandez, having already paid £116m to sign England midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest.

And further quality arrived in the shape of Iliman Ndiaye from Everton for £65m, the brilliant Morocco 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, who cost £85.6m from Lille, as well as Allan Elias from Palmeiras in Brazil.

It amounts to quite the rebuild, with the Fernandez deal taking City's spending to a Premier League record £458m for a single transfer window, surpassing Liverpool's £415m from last summer.

However, City have also achieved around £300m worth of player sales this summer, illustrating the vast turnover at the start of the post-Guardiola era.

An eventful window but one that leaves City, who still have so much class elsewhere, in good shape to mount a serious challenge.

Read more from Phil on key transfers

Shamoon Hafez
Manchester City reporter

Image source, Getty Images

When Enzo Maresca was appointed as Pep Guardiola's replacement in June, the Italian apologised to his former club Chelsea for the "disruption" caused by his mid-season departure.

Senior City sources had told BBC Sport at the time that they held no ill feeling towards Chelsea and that the now-resolved contractual dispute was between the Stamford Bridge club and Maresca.

And that has played out in this deal happening.

The manager was the key factor in this blockbuster deal with Maresca keen to reunite with his former Chelsea skipper.

It is understood Maresca wanted Fernandez as someone who he can fully trust and rely on, a player that is familiar with the manager's instructions, the patterns of play and does not need to be learn how to operate in the middle of the park in the system.

The 46-year-old had a similar approach when being appointed as Chelsea manager in 2023, signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall having worked with the player at Leicester during their Championship-winning campaign.

Looking back on Friday's pre-match news conference, Maresca had hinted at a late incoming by saying he was hoping to add "a captain" to his squad before the end of the transfer window.

City have lost the experience of Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Rodri this summer, with Ruben Dias taking the captain's armband and Erling Haaland being part of the leadership group.

Fernandez adds big-game know-how to City's midfield after winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, being named young player of the tournament, and helping his country to a second-straight final in July.

His antics during the summer may not make him a universally popular figure but Fernandez comes across as a player that team-mates love to have alongside them and one that gets under the skin of the opposition players and supporters.

City had been interested in signing Chelsea's Pedro Neto and Malo Gusto earlier this summer but were seemingly put off by the respective asking prices and, at that stage, Fernandez was not a player that Maresca had necessarily asked the hierarchy to sign.

However, the departures of Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez meant there was a gaping hole left in the middle of the park that needed filling.

Eyebrows were raised when Maresca deployed centre-back Marc Guehi in a holding midfield role in the opening game against Bournemouth, with the player himself saying he was surprised by the change in position.

That alteration came about as the deal for Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi had not been completed, so Guehi played alongside fellow England international Anderson.

The ownership have now splashed out £125m on Fernandez and deemed it as being worth the hefty fee for their new manager - they can also point to delivering a player who could be the final tool needed for Maresca and his men to challenge on all four fronts this season.

Though City claimed a domestic cup double in Guardiola's final season in charge, they fell short in the Premier League and Champions League so Maresca will now be under pressure to fare better in both of those competitions.

• Read more on Tuesday's big transfers

Image source, Getty Images

In a summer of highly-inflated transfer fees, value has become increasingly hard to determine.

On one hand, the Iliman Ndiaye is a player of superlative skill, evasive, quick and wonderfully entertaining with the ball at his feet.

Ndiaye was responsible for 73 of Everton's 250 completed dribbles last season, the highest share of any Premier League player.

Everton fans may also point to recent moves in the Premier League involving Manchester City, such as the sale of Savio to Tottenham for an initial £75m, as further evidence that the club should have demanded more for Ndiaye.

On the other hand, Everton are effectively quadrupling the initial £16m they paid Marseille to sign Ndiaye two years ago for a player whose underlying numbers, at this stage at least, are not truly elite.

In the Premier League last season, Ndiaye only ranked joint third at Everton alone for goal contributions (nine), with Beto (10) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12) providing more.

It is reasonable to assume that those numbers for Ndiaye will improve in a more attacking team at City but his general creativity is also middling as things stand.

He created 36 chances in total in the Premier League last season, ranking him only fourth at Everton. Toffees midfielder James Garner created 26 more. Jack Grealish, whose season ended in January because of injury, created eight more.

Grealish has effectively replaced Ndiaye at Everton following his loan move from Enzo Maresca's side.

Casting the net a little wider, 45 Premier League players have recorded more goal contributions than Ndiaye's 19 since he made his Everton debut two years ago.

As a 26-year-old set to be surrounded by better players, it would be no surprise should his numbers flourish at the Etihad.

But even in today's money, £65m for Ndiaye's current output may not be as questionable a deal as it sounds.