Guardiola named Chelsea – as well as Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Spurs and Newcastle – as a potential title rival earlier in the week, pointing to “the amount of players and their quality and the manager”.

“Six or seven teams will be there and if you drop a little bit, you will be away. This is the reality that I have felt since the first season I arrived here and after we proved to ourselves that we can do it and to try to do it again. It’s simple.

“There are 114 points to play (for) and we start from zero like everyone. Now we have to conquer again because they are not going to just give us the Premier League for the 24-25 season.

“I understand when people say we are favourites - and we have to accept it. When you win four in a row and six in seven, it is normal that you are favourites. We have to live with that - but I know what we have to do. It is point by point that we must win and, of course, every season it becomes more difficult.”

His Chelsea counterpart has said that Chelsea have been “doing well since day one” and “are improving things”.

“It is too early for the team to be where I want it to be. But I am quite happy because in terms of the process; I think the team is ahead of where I expected.

“For me, a good season would be so I can see day after day, month after month, a team that is improving. For sure with timing, we are going to close a little bit of a gap between us and the teams that are higher than us in this moment.”

On Pep Guardiola, he says that “after eight or nine years together, you can do so many different things”.

“Pep is not a manager that is always doing the same, he is always changing. For us, it will be exactly the same. It will be a tough game but exciting to start against the champions.

“We are going to try and instill our game, to win games and to make us happy, and also the fans.”

Despite the links between himself and Enzo Maresca, Pep Guardiola insists he cannot take any credit for his former assistant Enzo Maresca’s success as a manager.

The pair will go head-to-head on Sunday in Maresca’s first game as Chelsea boss when City launch their bid for a record-extending fifth-successive Premier League crown at Stamford Bridge.

Maresca helped City win the treble under Guardiola in 2022-23 and – after winning the Sky Bet Championship title in his first season as Leicester manager – the Italian replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea in June.

City have made just three changes to the side that won the Community Shield. The injured Oscar Bobb is replaced by Savinho, while in midfield, McAtee and O’Reilly drop to the bench in place of De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva.

So Savinho gets his first start for City, just over a week after making his debut for the club in the Community Shield win. The Brazilian played well on his debut, replacing Jeremy Doku and producing a similar display to the Belgian.

Savinho, who is just 20 years old, was signed for around £30m from City’s sister club Troyes. He was known more commonly as Savio last season when he played for Girona, where he got nine goals and 10 assists last season as the Catalan club qualified for the Champions League for the first time.

He has a similarly direct style of play to Doku, frequently looking to take his man on, and often utilising his speed and agility when dribbling. As a left-footer, he can play on the right wing but is often deployed on the left, as he was last week.

Despite his enjoyment when taking on defenders, the Brazilian also frequently drifts inside, helping out the attack from more central areas.

Man City XI: Ederson; Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo; Doku, Haaland, Savinho.

Subs: Ortega, Walker, Stones, Ake, Grealish, Nunes, Foden, O’Reilly, McAtee.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Jackson, Nkunku.

Subs: Jorgensen, Badiashile, Tosin, Veiga, Dewsbury-Hall, Madueke, Mudryk, Neto, Guiu.

The teams should be announced within the next five minutes, so here’s a reminder of that early team news.

Reece James’ injury woes continue and the Chelsea captain will miss the opener with a hamstring injury, though he is also suspended.

Nicolas Jackson, Axel Disasi, Omari Kellyman and Djordje Petrovic are all doubts after missing long periods of pre-season, although Jackson is expected to feature.

Manchester City will be without Oscar Bobb, who is out with a fractured leg, while Jack Grealish is a doubt having missed the Community Shield last weekend. Pep Guardiola also recently confirmed that Rodri has not travelled to London with the squad.

Kyle Walker and John Stones are back in training after returning late following the Euro 2024 final.

There are only a handful of people who know exactly what is happening in the Manchester City case and one of them had to promote the new Premier League season this week.

“It’s clear we have some regulatory challenges,” competition chief executive Richard Masters said. “But I’m confident we can navigate all of that and, by the time we sit down again in 12 months, a lot of that stuff will be clearer and we can have the way we always want it, which is the football front and centre.”

It’s quite a hopeful spin that is perhaps natural from the world’s most bombastic league, especially since this season could involve a storm like no other. This could well be the most controversial and consequential campaign in the English game’s history, that reaches both Bosman and Italy’s Calciopoli in terms of its effects. It could change the face of the table, the future, the past, as well as the Premier League’s very image. An outcome of the City case is expected by April, but any time that late is almost even worse for the Premier League.

These two sides met three times last season, contesting an FA Cup semi-final as well as their two league games.

The first meeting threw up one of the games of the season at Stamford Bridge, with Cole Palmer scoring a late penalty to equalise against his old side.

The second match was slightly less exciting, though no less interesting, ending in a 1-1 draw at the Etihad.

So the FA Cup tie was the only match where one side could find something to separate themselves from the other – City won that match 1-0, though Chelsea were kicking themselves come full-time as they had plenty of chances to win it themselves.

All the most recent evidence suggests that we’re in for a cracker this afternoon!

The transfer merry-g-round continues at Chelsea, with the Blues reportedly close to signing Joao Felix on a permanent transfer. Conor Gallagher would likely be going the other way, with the purported transfer of Samu Omorodion falling through.

Chelsea have also been linked with a host of other players, from heavily reported links to Victor Osimhen to less believable links such as Jadon Sancho.

In terms of players leaving, Ben Chilwell has been touted for a move, with Trevoh Chalobah almost certain to leave too after reportedly being banned from the first-team facilities.

Incomings:

Pedro Neto – £54m

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – £30m

Filip Jorgensen – £20.7m

Omari Kellyman – £19m

Marc Guiu – £5m

Aaron Anselmino – £17m (loaned out)

Renato Veiga – £12m

Caleb Wiley – £8.5m (loaned out)

Tosin Adarabioyo – free

Outgoings:

Ian Maatsen – £37.5m

Lewis Hall – £28m

Omari Hutchinson – £20m

Diego Moreira – £1.5m

Hakim Ziyech – free

Thiago Silva – free

Malang Sarr – free

Lesley Ugochukwu – loan

Alfie Gilchrist – loan

With City having sold Julian Alvarez while losing Oscar Bobb to a long-term injury, there’s plenty of speculation around the club’s potential transfer targets. The only major signing they have made so far is Savio (who is now known as Savinho) from Troyes – to much irritation in some parts.

The Cityzens have been linked to both Ebere Eze and Bruno Guimaraes, but with the window closing soon and both of those players commanding huge fees, don’t be surprised to see City go with more under-the-radar signings.

In terms of outgoings, Kalvin Phillips has now gone out on loan to Ipswich, while it remains to be seen whether Joao Cancelo will be of use to Guardiola this season.

Incomings:

Savio – £21m

Outgoings:

Julian Alvarez – £82m

Taylor Harwood-Bellis – £20m

Sergio Gomez – £8.4m

Tommy Doyle – £4.3m

Kalvin Phillips – loan