Man City 1-0 Luton Town – Premier League: Live score, team news and updates as Erling Haaland’s volley is diverted into his own net by Daiki Hashioka | Only Sports And Health
Gvardiol forces a save from Kaminski before De Bruyne fires over.
Elsewhere, Burnley are on top early at Turf Moor, as are Forest in Nottingham and Sheffield United in the capital.
City heading top
Luton would be extremely brave to come out swinging and they have not done that. I’m no football manager, but stay in the game as long as possible would be the plan if I had to guess.
Three shots already for City, 62 per cent possession.
‘It’s going to be a long afternoon for Luton’
Nathan Salt, Mail Sport, at the Etihad:
OK, so this is going to be a long afternoon for Luton, sorry Hatters fans. Daiki Hashioka is just smashed in the face by the ball and it rifles into the net. We’ve all been there when you take one plush in the face. That’s stinging for a good five minutes at least.
City get the ball rolling
Haaland is through one-on-one, and Kamionski saves. The ball comes out to Doku, whose effort is blocked, and it’s backout to Haaland.
He goes for the spectacular, the effort is going wide, but it hits Hashioka in the face and goes into the back of the net.
That’s a Haaland assist, for FPL players.
GOAL! Man City 1-0 Luton (Hashioka OG)
It’s as you’d expect early on at the Etihad. GOAL! THAT DID NOT TAKE LONG!
Kick off!
The first whistles around the country sound and we are underway in the four 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League this afternoon.
‘A hot reception’
Tom Collomosse, Mail Sport, at the City Ground:
Morgan Gibbs-White is sure to get a hot reception from the travelling fans today. The playmaker was sold by Wolves to Forest for £25million two years ago and has turned up his celebrations to 11 when facing his former club. Expect more of the same if he scores here.
Is Erling Haaland a worry?
It wouldn’t be close to a crisis for a normal player, but Erling Haaland is not a normal player.
Three goals in his last eight games, I make it. He has come under criticism for his performances in recent times, and I think it is undoubtedly his biggest blip since he joined City.
Today would be a great time to change that. Earlier this season, he scored five against Luton. Not bad.
Edwards raring to go
Rob Edwards, smiley as ever, is ready to go, speaking to Sky Sports.
Centre-back issue is an understatement. It hasn’t damaged the preparations too much, we still feel like we have good a got plan. We just need to do it against arguably the best team in the world. Let’s go.
‘I believe they can keep going’
Lee Hendrie on Sky Sports:
When you are title winners and have the squad Pep Guardiola has, they are hitting great form. 26 unbeaten in all competitions and at home they are relentless. He gets the best out of his side in the run-in.
It is ever so exciting. They can go top today and I believe they can keep going. The changes bring even more quality and I think they will continue on and win the title.
City arrivals
A champions’ welcome for City ahead of today’s match.
Kick-off is, what, just over half an hour away.
I don’t want to disrespect Luton but I feel like it’s a matter of how many today. I’ve gone with five in my predictions.
Burnley vs Brighton teams
Thomas Frank explains Toney’s benching
I want Ivan to start and score goals. He is a beast and plays through everything. The injury is not as good as we hoped for; he’s on the bench and fine for that.
I want him available for as many minutes as possible between now and the end of the season.
Brentford vs Sheffield United teams
Elsewhere, Ivan Toney is on the bench again…
‘No better time to deliver’
Tom Collomosse, Mail Sport, at the City Ground:
First start for Gio Reyna in a Forest shirt. He was signed on loan in January but has had little chance to make an impression. With Anthony Elanga absent, there can be no better time for the USA playmaker to deliver.
Nottingham Forest and Wolves teams
Here’s how Nuno Espirito Santo and Gary O’Neil have lined their teams up today:
Wolves: Sa, Semedo, S Bueno, Kilman, Toti, Doherty, Gomes, M Lemina, Doyle, Sarabia, Cunha.
No Elanga for Forest, no Ait Nouri for Wolves.
Escuse the awful Forest graphic embed.
City’s six changes
So it’s Ortega, Stones, Rodri, Bernardo, Foden and Grealish who drop out for City from the Madrid draw, replaced by Ederson, Lewis, Dias, Nunes, Alvarez and Doku.
Burke makes it for Luton to help the patched-up defence.
‘Imagine having that depth’
Nathan Salt, Mail Sport, at the Etihad:
Rodri said in the wake of the draw away to Real Madrid that he needed a rest and Pep Guardiola has given it to him today as he’s one of the players to drop to the bench. Phil Foden is another among the subs.
Imagine making six changes and you’ve still got the likes of Haaland, De Bruyne, Alvarez, Doku and more in the team. Great depth.
Following a knock in midweek and a run of games that has seen a sensational run of form, there has been a late change to the City line-up and Phil Foden does not start for the hosts.
Luton’s injury crisis
I mentioned Luton’s injury crisis in defence but allow me to outline just how bad it is.
Gabriel Osho, Tom Lockyer, Reece Burke, Mads Andersen, Amarai Bell, Teden Mengi, Dan Potts.
What do those seven players have in common? They are all centre backs and they are all injured.
Rob Edwards has to earn his money to pick his defence today.
Newcastle running riot
Sorry to plug this again, but Newcastle are running absolutely riot against Tottenham, who are all over the place.
Alexander Isak has two, Anthony Gordon has one, Son Heung-min has just been hooked and it should be about 8-0.
Follow it below if you’d like to!
‘It’s easy to get distracted by Real Madrid’
Nathan Salt, Mail Sport, at the Etihad:
There’s a really nice interview in the matchday programme today with Ruben Dias where he talks about catching himself getting carried away looking at the remaining fixtures.
It’s easy to get distracted when the likes of Real Madrid are coming here in a few days time but Luton have shown time and again that they don’t go away quietly. With Arsenal and Liverpool both not playing until tomorrow, City have to lay down a gauntlet in this title race today… and not get preoccupied with the blockbuster games to come.
‘The toughest season in years’
A real good piece from our City correspondent Jack Gaughan here, with Pep Guardiola revealing that he’s having his ‘toughest season in years’.
On the back of winning the Treble, the challenge is always staying on top and though another Treble can be won again this season, it’s not been as plain sailing.
They are currently third in the table in a three-horse title race and face a challenge against Real Madrid next week in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Win that, and Arsenal or Bayern Munich await.
Read more below on that. A great read if I do say so myself.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere, Sheffield United and Burnley are both in action and must win if they are to stand any chance at all of staying in the Premier League this season.
United are nine points adrift and Burnley six. They can technically both stay up, but it admittedly just feels like a matter of time.
Brentford are only four points clear of the drop but have a good run in, and a win today would help their cause.
Forest, meanwhile, are out the relegation zone on goal difference so their match against Wolves is a big one too.
Who will line up for the champions?
Today may provide a good opportuntiy for Pep Guardiola to rest players, with a City win surely all but guaranteed.
Rodri may sit out, with the midfielder declairng after the Real Madrid game in the week that he is in need of a rest and his manager saying he will get one if he wants one. Where’s Kalvin Phillips when you need him?
Elsewhere, we have been reliably informed that Erling Haaland starts, but he may be withdrawn early if the damage is done.
We will have the team sheet in around 40 mintues.
City looking to go top
Onto today then, and Manchester City are the first of the three tite-chasing sides to play this weekend.
With all due respect to Luton, they couldn’t really ask for a better game. The Hatters are not only fighting relegation, but have an injury crisis and a half in defence.
The likes of Erling Haaland and Phil Foden will be licking their lips. Win, and the champions will go to the top of the table, at least temporarily.
Newcastle lead Tottenham
Elsewhere today, Manchester United will travel to Bournemouth later, but Newcastle versus Tottenham is well underway in the north east with the home side just scoring two quick goals to go 2-0 up.
My colleague Harry Bamforth is covering that one, so click below if you want to follow that one live.
Hello!
Good afternoon one and all and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage of the 3pm kick offs in the Premier League, featuring Manchester City versus Luton.
We have four games for you this afternoon including the champions, with Brentford vs Sheffield United, Burnley vs Brighton and Nottingham Forest vs Wolves also taking place.
It’s an afternoon that will shape the table at both ends of the table, so strap in and stick with us!
Key Updates
GOAL! Man City 1-0 Luton (Hashioka OG)
Manchester City team to face Luton
City looking to go top
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Man City 1-0 Luton Town – Premier League: Live score, team news and updates as Erling Haaland’s volley is diverted into his own net by Daiki Hashioka