Manchester City will conclude their pre-season preparations with a friendly against Italian sister club Palermo at the Renzo Barbera Stadium in Sicily on Saturday.
The two teams, both part of the City Football Group family, will meet for the very first time and contest for the Anglo-Palermitan Trophy, commemorating the Sicilian club’s maiden fixture against a team of British sailors back in 1900.
Match preview
Palermo head coach Filippo Inzaghi on June 26, 2025
This weekend’s fixture represents a key milestone on Palermo’s journey towards celebrating its 125th anniversary on November 1 since their inception as the Anglo Palermitan Athletic & Football Club.
Famous for their distinctive pink and black kit, Palermo were once Serie A regulars and competed in Europa League qualifiers as recently as the 2011-12 season, but financial difficulties led to their decline and expulsion from Serie B, before a phoenix club was formed in Serie D in 2019.
Palermo have quickly climbed back up the Italian football league system and were acquired by City Football Group (CFG) in 2022 - further solidifying the club's future - before finishing ninth, sixth and eighth across the last three Serie B seasons, missing out on top-flight promotion in the playoff preliminary round in 2024-25.
Alessio Dionisi has been replaced by new head coach Filippo Inzaghi, who left his role as Pisa boss to take the reins at Palermo, and since the 51-year-old’s arrival in June, the Eagles have enjoyed a perfect pre-season campaign, winning six matches out of six and scoring 29 goals in the process.
It is worth noting that Palmero have played against lower-league opponents from Italy, France and Switzerland over the summer, most recently thrashing local Serie D outfit Athletic Club Palermo by a 7-1 scoreline on Wednesday.
Palermo are now gearing up for what has been described as a “historic meeting” against Man City by CFG Global Football Technical Director Riccardo Bigon, and by far their biggest test yet before kick-starting the new season with a Coppa Italia first-round tie away against Cremonese on August 16.
Manchester City's Pep Guardiola in June 2025
Man City were last in competitive action at the FIFA Club World Cup earlier this summer when they finished top of their group with three wins out of three before suffering a surprise last-16 defeat at the hands of Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal, losing an enthralling contest 4-3 after extra time on July 1.
The Citizens’ early exit from the newly-expanded tournament in the United States allowed Pep Guardiola’s side to reflect and recharge their batteries during a four-week break, before reporting for pre-season training at City Football Academy on July 28.
Following five days of being put through their paces by Guardiola and his new coaching staff, including Pep Lijnders, Kolo Toure and James French, several members of Man City’s first-team squad took part in a 1-0 victory over Preston North End in a behind-closed-doors friendly last Saturday.
Man City supporters were unable to watch Rico Lewis score the only goal of the match, but they were able to attend Tuesday’s open training session for the men’s and women’s first teams at the Joie Stadium, where players met with fans and new signings were presented as part of a special club event.
After experiencing a turbulent 2024-25 campaign, Guardiola has warned Citizens supporters that “it won’t be a red carpet season” in 2025-26 and the target is to “challenge against ourselves” across all competitions, as they endeavour to avoid going successive seasons without winning major silverware.
Before travelling to Wolverhampton Wanderers for their opening Premier League fixture of the new season on August 16, a select number of Man City players will fly out to Sicily on Friday ahead of their encounter with Palermo. The Citizens have won three of their previous four encounters with fellow CFG teams and will hope to conclude pre-season on a high with another victory this weekend.
Palermo pre-season form:
W W W W W W
Manchester City pre-season form:
W
Team News
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring on June 26, 2025
Palermo have signed four experienced players so far this summer - Mattia Bani (31), Emmanuel Gyasi (31), Tommaso Augello (30) and Antonio Palumbo (28) - and the quartet are all in contention to feature in some capacity this weekend.
Midfielder Palumbo and left-back Augello were on the scoresheet along with Joel Pohjanpalo, Jacopo Segre, Valerio Brutto and Salim Diakite in their most recent pre-season victory and Inzaghi is expected to give them all minutes once again.
Claudio Gomes has made almost 100 senior appearances for Palermo since joining from Man City in 2022, and the French midfielder - who failed to play in a single senior match during his time at the Etihad Stadium - could be available to face his former club.
As for Man City, Mateo Kovacic and Kalvin Phillips are two guaranteed absentees after undergoing surgery on Achilles injuries earlier this summer, while Nico O’Reilly will be assessed after missing Tuesday’s training session with a minor problem.
Guardiola will weigh up whether to select star midfielder Rodri as he continues to build up his fitness ahead of the new season, while Jack Grealish, James McAtee, Stefan Ortega and Claudio Echeverri are four players who are unlikely to travel to Italy amid speculation about their futures.
Erling Haaland, the only Man City player to be nominated for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, is expected to feature in some capacity along with new signings James Trafford, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki.
Palermo possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Diakite, Bani, Magnani; Buttaro, Gomes, Palumbo, Augello; Gyasi, Brunori; Pohjanpalo
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Trafford; Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ait-Nouri; Bernardo, Reijnders; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Marmoush
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We say: Palermo 0-3 Manchester City
The priority for both teams is to display a positive performance and build up match fitness ahead of the new season. In-form Palermo will be keen to impress against an elite opponent on home soil, but Man City will undoubtedly be regarded as favourites to come out on top this weekend, even if a number of Guardiola’s senior stars are not involved.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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