Erling Haaland is "okay to start" on 24 October, Man City's Enzo Maresca said, after sitting out the Champions League win over AEK Athens. Maresca rested him and Antoine Semenyo as players "playing every game since day one", with five or six rested players on the bench.
Phil Foden scored a hat-trick against AEK Athens in the Champions League, and Man City manager Enzo Maresca was blunt about what came before: "In the last 2 years, 3 years, it was not good enough, but I know how good he is." He still rates him among the best English players.
Floyd Samba started up front for Man City in the Champions League win over AEK Athens, and Enzo Maresca said: "the 3 players from the academy, they were all good, especially Floyd, that he played from the start." Ryan McAidoo and Kaden Braithwaite impressed off the bench.
Marc Guéhi has played every minute of Man City's eight-day run against Liverpool, PSG and Ipswich, with recovery and sleep between games in place of training. "No, not strain. I'm grateful to be fit and healthy." He took the blame for the Ipswich goals: "that is down to me."
Mateo Kovačić and Matheus Nunes went off but told Enzo Maresca they were okay. The Man City manager will protect Ayyoub Bouaddi after his first Premier League start: "he's very young, he's coming from France... we need to help him not put him... under pressure every game"
Phil Foden is back from suspension for Man City v Ipswich on 17 October, but Enzo Maresca won't say if he starts: City played 48 hours earlier, Ipswich had a week. He's weighing rest "at some point" for Erling Haaland, Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernández, Marc Guéhi and Rúben Dias.
Antoine Semenyo is the one Man City need to "wait a little bit" on, said Enzo Maresca. Asked if Erling Haaland, who appeared to limp off, has a knee injury, Maresca said: "I don't know. I asked him, he said that he was okay." Nico O'Reilly still has the back issue from Coventry.
Three half-time changes in Man City's Champions League defeat to PSG were partly about the Premier League game coming less than 72 hours later, Enzo Maresca said: "we need to go again." Iliman Ndiaye and Ayyoub Bouaddi came on at the break; Maresca said both were good.
"Luis also at the end, he told me that they have been quite lucky during the 95 minutes." Man City's Enzo Maresca on PSG coach Luis Enrique after the Champions League defeat. Maresca felt City deserved more after the break and are close to PSG's level.