New Season, new general.

Regular spot, let's go

Well here's to the Community Shield curse continuing.

Attending my first PL game this December, and it just so happens to be Chelsea at City. Any and all recs appreciated. TIA!

Great game to pick.

First and foremost, you want to take the East line from Piccadilly to the Etihad to get there and back, don't mess with rideshare or taxis. You can use a tap credit card to tap on and off, don't worry about buying tickets. Same with all the rails around town and the busses. You only have to buy tickets on trains going to other cities. If you don't want to wait in the long line to get on the train after the game, you can walk back to Piccadilly Station by going down the path along the rail line, its about a 40 min walk.

I like to arrive a few hours before the match and go to the Coop Live Arena that is next door to the stadium where they allow ticket holders in to get drinks and watch other matches on big screens. Unfortunately t is the opposite direction from the train drop off as the team store which is outside of the stadium. Unless they have finished the new Pep Guardiola addition to the North end of the Stadium, which might have a store. Remember, when you go into the Etihad, you cannot take alcohol down into your seat, you have to drink it up in the concourse area, which gets pretty crowded from all the other fans knocking back their beers.

If you are dead set on hitting up a pub outside of the Etihad before the game, Mary D's is the closest but you would want to get there several hours before to be able to find a spot.

As for what to wear, feel free to wear a jersey, but don't be surprised when you see tons of fans not wearing anything but dark clothes with maybe a scarf to indicate their team. Also, you can buy game day scarves outside of the stadium from private vendors, but just know locals and regulars look down on it and will spot you as a "tourist fan". Nothing wrong with that, I got a game day scarf for the City vs Arsenal match and just laughed off the ribbing I got at the local pubs. All this assuming you are a City fan. If you are Chelsea, I would try to conceal that fact going into any pubs anywhere around there and hopefully you got tickets in the away section because God help you if you did not.

If you have yet to book a place to stay, we stayed at the Piccadilly Central Hotel right outside of the station. They are basically rooms above the Piccadilly Central Pub but they are recently remodeled. The Pub is a great start off before heading off to the Stadium.

If you haven't been to Manchester before, they have the National Football Museum there that is pretty cool, and right near that is The Old Wellington, which is the oldest pub in Manchester from like the 1500's.

Stones, Ake, Rodri, Bernardo, Trafford, Reijnders and likely Savinho all gone from last season's squad.

So far just Anderson and Rulli in. Ridiculously important couple of weeks to address it.

— Steven (@StevenMcinerney) August 17, 2026

Time to make some moves. Hopefully the drubbing for the shield gives them a kick in the pants.

Thanks for the advice! We'll be there as City supporters and our tickets are in a Hospitality section, so hopefully we'll blend in without a hitch. Definitely adding the museum to the must-do list. Looking forward to the matchday experience!

LouisHerbertWong said:

---

Thanks for the advice! We'll be there as City supporters and our tickets are in a Hospitality section, so hopefully we'll blend in without a hitch. Definitely adding the museum to the must-do list. Looking forward to the matchday experience!

---

If you are doing the hospitality package, that's the way to go. Especially if you get lounge access before the match.

Also, if you have the time and enjoy historic locations, while you are going to the National Football Museum, Cheatham's Library is next to the museum, but requires you to buy tour tickets ahead of time. It's from the 1600's and has a lot of cool history with it. Then the Manchester Cathedral is close by and is nice to visit. For eating, The Corn Exchange nearby has some great food spots and cool atmosphere as well.

Vessel said:

---

Stones, Ake, Rodri, Bernardo, Trafford, Reijnders and likely Savinho all gone from last season's squad.

So far just Anderson and Rulli in. Ridiculously important couple of weeks to address it.

— Steven (@StevenMcinerney) August 17, 2026

Time to make some moves. Hopefully the drubbing for the shield gives them a kick in the pants.

---

I'm really hoping Anderson can find rhythm with the other Midfielders and get up to the level it needs to be and Dunnarumma doesn't seem to be living up to his hype.

Funny enough, a married couple in our group is going to Chetham's during the game. To each their own.

Thanks again for the tips!

BREAKING: Jeremy Doku sustained a calf injury vs Arsenal in the Community Shield and will miss #ManCity's opening Premier League match of the 2026/27 season vs Bournemouth (H), according to @Nieuwsblad_be.

The winger could be sidelined for 'several weeks' and there is concern… pic.twitter.com/NNePX8tKFK

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 18, 2026

Of course.

🚨 EXCL: Newcastle United in talks with Manchester City over potential deal to sign Nico Gonzalez. Move for #MCFC midfielder not yet advanced but #NUFC working to strengthen & 24yo among various options exploratory dialogue taking place over @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/E3rYa1wOoP

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 18, 2026

Another major mistake by the club. Every time Nico G plays, he's good, but for some reason neither of our two managers appear to want to play him. We barely have any midfielders but we're going to let this one walk too...

🚨 Tottenham Hotspur working on double deal to sign Savinho & Omar Marmoush from Manchester City. #THFC aiming to land both 22yo Brazil winger + 27yo Egypt forward as key targets to strengthen attack - not done but talks with #MCFC advancing @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/qeVeKoKzhG

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 19, 2026

More squad players leaving. Only 2 weeks in the transfer window and we have 2 pretty tough games in the meantime.

The vibes aren't great. At this point, it's hard to imagine Arsenal doesn't run away with the league.

I'm sure we'll be fine, but we're getting dangerously close to the point where a couple injuries keeps us from qualifying for CL next season.

Vessel said:

---

The vibes aren't great. At this point, it's hard to imagine Arsenal doesn't run away with the league.

I'm sure we'll be fine, but we're getting dangerously close to the point where a couple injuries keeps us from qualifying for CL next season.

---

I feel like everything is up in the air without Pep. It's like Bama losing Saban.

Less great players will be willing to come unless we outspend everyone.

Looking at it from a more positive lens, you could make the argument that the club already knows which players they want to buy with the price more or less already negotiated. You'd say we have to sell these players first to get the cash and to comply with FFP.

The evidence for this would be the reports that Maresca wanted a bigger squad than what Pep typically had, but all we're doing is selling players (mostly backups to be fair). Why would the sporting director keep selling players to where we barely have enough to field a team if he didn't already know who is coming in? It would be extreme incompetence, which is possible, but is highly improbable.

We know Bouaddi is coming (eventually), you can make the guess that Enzo Fernandez will be bought with all the funds we are gathering, and then there are players like Mbaye and Kroupi who we have been linked with.

Enzo Maresca has been asking #ManCity to sign Enzo Fernandez for "weeks and weeks".

[via @FabrizioRomano]

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 19, 2026

Surely Enzo ends up at the club before the end of the window.

🚨🔵⚪️ BREAKING: Ayyoub Bouaddi to Manchester City, here we go! Deal agreed club to club.

Fee to reach €100m package with add-ons, as @FabriceHawkins reports. Green light from Lille to the sale.

Bouaddi agreed terms with City in July and now set to join #MCFC project. pic.twitter.com/qcbMqphude

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 23, 2026

Finally

Guehi in midfield. Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol the back four.

It's a statement.

— Jack Gaughan (@Jack_Gaughan) August 23, 2026

We have the manager sending statements to the Sporting Director via the starting lineup of the first Premier League game of the season…

That certainly was a risky lineup. So was Halaands hair choice.

City with the late comeback and win in extra time

Never a doubt

Honestly City clearly looked better. Missed multiple wide open chances

Texaggie7nine said:

---

That certainly was a risky lineup. So was Halaands hair choice.

---

Halaand whiffed on a wide open header, only logical explanation is that haircut

🚨🩵🤍 BREAKING: Manchester City reach verbal agreement with Palmeiras for Allan, here we go!

New winger incoming for Enzo Maresca for fee worth €40m fixed plus add-ons.

Documents being exchanged right now between clubs, Allan will join #MCFC. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/AU0r0o6DgX

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 24, 2026

Not sure what this guy will be but at least it's a body for Cup games. Don't think I need to see him in PL games yet.

BREAKING: #ManCity ’s 2026/27 #UCL league phase draw. ⤵️

🇫🇷 PSG (H)
🇪🇸 Barcelona (A)
🇵🇹 Sporting (H)
🇵🇹 FC Porto (A)
🇮🇹 Napoli (H)
🇩🇪 RB Leipzig (A)
🇬🇷 AEK Athens (H)
🇫🇷 RC Lens (A)

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 27, 2026

Pretty tough league phase in the CL, but at least no Real Madrid lol.

#ManCity and Chelsea have reached an agreement for Enzo Fernandez worth around €140M, according to @TyCSports. The midfielder will sign a contract until 2032, with the option of a further 12 months. ⚠️

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 27, 2026

More ballers, don't care about price.

Discussions are progressing well between #ManCity and Everton for Iliman Ndiaye, who wishes to move to the Etihad Stadium, according to @Santi_J_FM, @laloumance, and @DahbiaHattabi. 🇸🇳

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 27, 2026

Another baller. Supposedly a swap of Rico Lewis and Graelish plus 40ish million.

A squad is starting to take shape.

Bench is laughable today. Three senior players who were on the team last year. The rest are young players who were on loan last season, brand new signings, or academy players.

Time for 3 points!

McAidoo has real juice

Looks like Haaland may have rediscovered the finishing touch. Nice move by Foden who had been lacking the final product all game.

Bouaddi looked so smooth in his late cameo. He's going to be fun to watch for a long time.

Cherki will be in the conversation for best player in the PL by the end of the season. That guy is so ridiculous. Already 2 goals and 2 assists on the season. Looks like Maresca is doing the smart thing and letting Cherki have the freedom to roam around and get involved in all areas.

What a game from Cherki. Haaland doing Haaland things. Defense and goalkeeping still suspect imho. Away kits are fire. Palace kits are hideous.

3 points!

Maybe a spicy take, but I like all 3 of our kits this year.