Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca is set to face the media ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League clash with AEK Athens, with fitness concerns over five players, including Erling Haaland, expected to dominate the agenda.
City enter the match on the back of a 3-2 Premier League win over Ipswich Town on Saturday, a result that extended their winning start to the league season to seven matches. That run is a new Premier League record for consecutive wins at the start of a managerial tenure, surpassing the mark previously set by Pep Guardiola.
Injury Concerns for Five Players
Haaland, Antoine Semenyo, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O'Reilly all picked up injury concerns during the victory over Ipswich. Initial impressions suggest Semenyo and O'Reilly are the bigger worries, but Maresca was expected to provide further updates when he speaks to the media at around 12pm.
The City boss was due to be joined by a player for the press conference, with both set to answer questions from reporters.
Champions League Context
A win over AEK Athens, who hold a near-identical record to City in this season's Champions League, would move the Blues closer to the all-important top eight. The defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday adds extra importance to the fixture.
In Saturday's win over Ipswich, Phil Foden ended his goal drought on 19 minutes when he converted Jeremy Doku's cross, only for Daizen Maeda to level moments later. Haaland's header put City back in front before half time, and he added his second with just over 20 minutes to play. The Norwegian thought he had completed a hat-trick with a minute of normal time remaining, but VAR ruled it out for offside. Ipswich then won a penalty, converted by Zian Flemming, setting up a nervy finale in 12 added minutes, but City held on for the victory.
