Manchester City vs Ipswich: perfect start, and a manager talking about rest
City have won all six league games and lead the table; Enzo Maresca says rotation is coming for his busiest players.
Manchester City host Ipswich Town at the Etihad on Saturday (14:00 UTC). City have won their opening six league matches and top the table by three points, according to the club's own preview.
City's question is workload, not form
The interesting story is not whether City are good, but who plays. Manager Enzo Maresca said Erling Haaland will be in the squad but that the club has to consider resting him. "At some point we probably need to give him rest, some days off," he said, per mancity.com. Haaland has 10 goals from nine games this season, according to the same piece.
Maresca also named Elliot Anderson, Enzo Fernández, Marc Guéhi, Haaland and Rúben Dias as players busy with both club and country, and said he will look at rotating the team. The club's preview mentions no injuries. Fernández, who joined from Chelsea, was praised by Maresca for settling quickly.
Ipswich's season so far
Ipswich have three wins and three defeats from six games, and Torch's data has their form as win, loss, win, loss, loss, most recent first. FootballDream's preview puts them 10th on nine points, with 12 goals conceded, and reports a 2-1 win over Fulham in their last league match. Away from home they have taken three points from three games, according to the same source.
FootballDream lists City's goal difference at +11 with five conceded. Those figures come from a single third-party source, so treat the totals with care.
What the numbers suggest
FootballDream's goals-based model rates City heavy favourites, at 79 percent to win, with 3-0 the most likely scoreline. The author cautions that only six games have been played, so it is a guide rather than a forecast to rely on. A model like this does not know who Maresca selects, which is the genuine variable on Saturday.
What to watch
Whether a rotated City side still controls the game is the question. Lineups are due about an hour before kick-off, and the make-up of City's attack will say a lot about how seriously Maresca takes his own warnings about rest.