Los Angeles Galaxy v Manchester City – Sunday 24th July – The Home Depot Center, California (22:00)
Philips - Manchester City
With all major European teams travelling across the globe to do their summer pre-season preparation, Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City have chosen to tour North America. This weekend will see Manchester City face LA Galaxy, one of the most high profile clubs in the USA, at their amazing Home Depot Center Stadium.
LA Galaxy have former England Captain David Beckham in their ranks as well as US star Landon Donovan and former Aston Villa man Juan Pablo Angel. LA Galaxy are coming off a 4-1 loss against Spanish giants Real Madrid at the LA Memorial Coliseum in a match Landon Donovan said his team took a lot of knowledge from. LA Galaxy are the countries second most decorated club behind DC United and are having a great season in the US MLS. They are on top of the table, closely followed by Seattle Sounders who are on 38 points but have played a game more than Galaxy. They are yet to lose at The Home Depot Center in their 10 league matches, conceding just 6 goals, and playing at home against City should give them a psychological boost. Landon Donovan as always has been Galaxy’s star so far this season and is joint top scorer with New York Red Bulls’ famous Thierry Henry.
Carlos Tevez has grabbed headlines after Manchester City have allowed him to make a move back to his ex-club Corinthians in a £40 million deal to re-unite with his family. The likes of Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Jo will be keen to impress in these friendlies now that City’s top striker has left. Manchester City started their pre-season tour with a 2-0 win over Mexican side Club America. Shaun Wright-Phillips gave Roberto Mancini something to think about as he scored in Manchester City’s opening pre-season friendly. The England winger is expected to be sold this summer but Mancini has hinted he could yet win a stay of execution and he looked in determined mood as he had a hand in the first goal and rifled in the second against the Mexican outfit. Wright-Phillips, who is 29, will now be hoping for another run-out in this match. City’s owner Sheikh Mansour’s billion-dollar investment paid off with an FA Cup trophy last season, and a UEFA Champions League berth on the strength of a third-place Premier League finish and the team will be looking to contend for the title this season.
Manchester City’s players will be keen to build on their good form and have too much quality not to get a win here.
