Maresca faces Champions League blow and derby test as Man City fixture list lands

Manchester City’s 2025-26 Premier League fixture list has been confirmed, giving expected incoming head coach Enzo Maresca his first detailed look at the challenges awaiting him at the Etihad Stadium — even as negotiations to formally appoint him continue.

Maresca remains the club’s preferred candidate to succeed Pep Guardiola, who departed at the end of last season after cementing his status as one of the greatest managers in the club’s history. Talks with Chelsea, where Maresca served as head coach, are ongoing, but the Italian is understood to be willing to take the role and his appointment is still anticipated.

A dream opening run

The fixture list offers Maresca an encouraging start. City’s opening three matches — Bournemouth at home, a trip to Crystal Palace, and a home game against newly promoted Coventry — represent a sequence that should yield a minimum of seven points if the squad performs to expectation.

The Bournemouth opener marks the first time City have hosted a team on the Premier League’s opening weekend at the Etihad since Guardiola’s debut season. Crystal Palace, like City, will begin the campaign under a new manager, potentially creating early instability at Selhurst Park that City could exploit. Coventry, fresh from promotion, round out what looks a manageable introduction to life under new leadership.

The derby arrives early

Any goodwill built in those opening fixtures will be tested sharply at matchday four, when City travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. United ran out relatively comfortable winners in the corresponding fixture in January, and will arrive into the derby with confidence. A defeat so early in Maresca’s tenure risks disrupting momentum before it has properly formed; a win, conversely, would send an immediate statement of intent.

Champions League complications

Beyond the domestic schedule, Maresca must also contend with a Champions League situation that adds further complexity to his early planning. The nature of that blow — whether structural, squad-related, or tied to the competition’s revised format — will shape how City approach squad building and rotation across the first half of the season.

Guardiola’s departure leaves enormous shoes to fill. The Spaniard’s name now adorns the newly expanded North Stand at the Etihad, a permanent reminder of what he built. Maresca, a former City assistant who understands the club’s methods, is seen as a natural fit — but the fixture list makes clear there will be little time to settle in once the season begins in August.