Manchester City vs. Ipswich Town | Premier League

“Manchester City vs. Ipswich Town”

Preview: Manchester City vs. Ipswich Town

It’s all looking very familiar already for Manchester City: one game down, one rival beaten, Erling Haaland off and running…

…And City will soon have İlkay Gündoğan back in the team. The midfielder looks set to rejoin from Barcelona, adding to Pep Guardiola’s ranks – just a week after they showed they can cope perfectly well without Rodri, their key component in that area of the park, in dispatching Chelsea on the opening weekend.

If that performance – polished and comfortable – and result wasn’t enough to present an ominous sense of “here we go again” regarding the Cityzens, the arrival of Gündoğan for free might well do, even if Savinho’s injury at Stamford Bridge was a blow given how well he started.

Yet irrespective of fitness and transfers, City will certainly imagine they’ve been handed a rather routine start to the campaign. Chelsea are still trying to find out who they are, or rather who they are made of under Enzo Maresca, and this week’s opponents Ipswich Town have the toughest start of all having been newly promoted: they lost at home to Liverpool and now face the only side better than the Reds over the last few years.

It’s worth noting that City weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders – an xG of just 0.77 showed their clinical, not creative, edge – and it might also have been a slight surprise that Guardiola only made a single sub, clearly valuing minutes in his starters at this stage of the campaign.

Ipswich will find it tough to limit City to such a paucity of chances, however. They conceded six big chances to Liverpool, who were wasteful despite a 2-0 win, tallying 18 shots in total against them for a combined xG of 2.65. That’s despite the Tractor Boys being energetic and disciplined in the first half; a tiring side against a better one was cut apart at will from the hour mark onwards. That’s a lesson for Man City to take on board this weekend if they struggle on home soil early on, and patience has long been a virtue of Guardiola’s teams.

For the visitors, though they’ll know their season doesn’t really count as starting until next time out, hopes for a first Premier League goal – or even point – in over 20 years will come from registering almost 0.3 of their total 0.45 xG against Liverpool from set plays, while City keeper Ederson looked far from his best against Chelsea. Even so, it’s a huge ask to expect anything other than another defeat to nil.

Post Match:

Manchester City Dominates Ipswich Town, Haaland Hat Trick Highlights 4-1 Victory

Manchester City vs. Ipswich Town: Erling Haaland’s clinical performance was the catalyst for Manchester City’s commanding 4-1 win over Ipswich Town at the Etihad Stadium. The Norwegian striker secured a hat trick, showcasing his exceptional goal-scoring prowess.

The match began with a surprise as Ipswich Town’s Sammie Szmodics capitalized on a defensive lapse to give the visitors a seventh-minute lead. However, Manchester City quickly responded, with Haaland converting a penalty just five minutes later to level the score.

The Citizens’ dominance continued as Kevin De Bruyne capitalized on an error from Ipswich’s goalkeeper to extend the lead. Haaland then added his second goal of the match, securing a 3-1 advantage before the half-hour mark.

In the second half, Haaland completed his hat trick with a powerful shot from outside the box, solidifying Manchester City’s victory. The Norwegian striker has now scored against every Premier League opponent he has faced, a remarkable achievement.