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Greetings, fellow Blues! It's been a long time, but we're back. City begin the season against Tony Pulis and his West Brom side in the final match of the weekend. City have beaten the Baggies in each of the past 7 meetings, so more of the same would certainly be welcome.
To recap the weekend: Chelsea snuck a point off of Swansea, Arsenal stumbled to a loss against West Ham, and United got by with an own goal against Spurs.
TV listings- UK: Sky Sports 1, USA: NBCSN (6 more years!), Australia: FOX Sports 3
Now, for the lineups:
CITY XI: Hart, Sagna, Kompany (C), Mangala, Kolarov, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Silva, Sterling, Bony #westbromvcity
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) August 10, 2015
SUBS: Caballero, Zabaleta, Denayer, Demichelis, Nasri, Iheanacho, Aguero #westbromvcity #mcfc
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) August 10, 2015
Albion v @MCFC: Myhill, Chester, Dawson, Lescott, Brunt, Morrison, Gardner, Fletcher (c), McClean, Berahino, Lambert. #WBAMCI #COYB
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBAFCofficial) August 10, 2015
Given all of the injuries and players recovering from international duty, the lineup is about as expected. All eyes will be on Raheem Sterling as he makes his debut, but special attention should be focused on the defense, where City have been shaky over the past year and in preseason. Not as many youngsters as some would have liked on the bench, but Iheanacho is present as is Denayer. Mostly the usual suspects, however.
Fun fact: Each of the past 5 Premier League champions have begun their seasons on a Monday night. Destiny?
Thoughts on the lineup? How are you watching today's opening match? Here's to another great season at Bitter at Blue with all of you. Comment away!