Overview
Manchester City will continue their journey to prepare for the new season with a confrontation with K-League All-Stars. Previously, they drew 1-1 with Inter Milan in coach Enzo Maresca's debut match. Despite losing in a penalty shootout, this performance still brings many positive signs for Maresca.
After the K-League All-Stars clash, Man City will meet Atletico Madrid before entering the English Super Cup match with Arsenal on August 16. The Etihad Stadium team will then start the 2026-2027 Premier League campaign with a reception of Bournemouth on August 23, before playing away at Crystal Palace.
This summer witnessed many changes in Man City's squad. The Manchester team has recruited 4 new players, the most notable of which is English midfielder Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest. Conversely, experienced names such as John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake have all left Etihad.
Meanwhile, K-League All-Stars continues to be a familiar opponent of European "giants" every summer. The team gathers the best players of the Korean national championship and is led by coach Chung Jung-yong (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) and assistant coach Jeong Kyung-ho (Gangwon FC).
K-League All-Stars once impressed when defeating Newcastle United 1-0 last summer. Before that, they also beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 and only narrowly lost to Tottenham 3-4 in friendly matches.
With experience against many top European teams such as Barcelona, Juventus or Tottenham, K-League All-Stars promises to bring a big challenge to Man City in the next test under Maresca.
Personnel situation
K-League All-Stars possesses many notable faces in the match against Man City. The most prominent is Yazan Al-Arab, a center-back who just participated in the 2026 World Cup with the Jordanian national team.
In addition, 18-year-old talent Son Jeong-beom of FC Seoul also participated, along with former South Korean international Ki Sung-yueng - who played for many years in the Premier League for Swansea City, Sunderland and Newcastle United.
On Man City's side, Enzo Maresca will not have Rodri's services, as the Spanish midfielder is still recovering from a back surgery performed after the 2026 World Cup.
In addition to Rodri, a series of notable names such as Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson, James Trafford and Nico O'Reilly will also be absent from this friendly match.
However, Man City still has many stars strong enough to make a difference. Josko Gvardiol, Savinho, Phil Foden and Antoine Semenyo are expected to be in the starting lineup.
Expected lineup:
K-League All-Stars: Hyeon-woo, Young-gwon, Jin-seop, Joo-sung, Tae-hwan, Sung-yeung, Soon-min, Bojanic, Farias, Cesinha, Mota.
Man City: Donnarumma, Lewis, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Mfuni, Kovacic, Reijnders, Savinho, Foden, Semenyo, Mubama.
The match between K-League All-Stars and Man City takes place at 6:00 PM on August 5th (Vietnam time).
