ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Manchester City are aiming to return to the top of the Premier League when they host relegation battlers Luton Town on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions are third but just a point shy of leaders Arsenal and Liverpool on goal. Their title rivals are in action against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace respectively on Sunday.
City host Real Madrid in the second leg of a Champions League quarterfinal that is all square at 3-3 and it remains to be seen to what extent Guardiola rotates his lineup. Pre-match speculation around the Etihad Stadium suggested a strong starting XI and Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were named in the home lineup.
Luton claimed their first Premier League win since January 30 when they beat Bournemouth last weekend. They are only in the relegation zone on goal difference behind Nottingham Forest and two shy of the similarly PSR-punished Everton.
The Sporting News is following Manchester City vs. Luton live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
MORE: Where to watch Man City vs Luton live stream, TV channel, lineups, prediction for Premier League match
Man City vs Luton live score
| 1st Half | Goalscorers | |
| Man City | 1 | Hashioka (OG) 2′ |
| Luton | 0 |
Lineups:
Man City (4-1-4-1, right to left): 31. Ederson (GK) — 82. Rico Lewis, 25. Manuel Akanji, 3. Rubem Dias, 24. Josko Gvardiol — 8. Mateo Kovacic — 27. Matheus Nunes, 17. Kevin De Bruyne, 19. Julian Alvarez, 11. Jeremy Doku — 9. Erling Haaland.
Luton (4-3-3 right to left): 24. Thomas Kaminski (GK) — 32. Fred Onyedinma, 27. Daiki Hashioka, 16. Reece Burke, 45. Alfie Doughty — 6. Ross Barkley, 18. Jordan Clark, 8. Luke Berry — 30. Andros Townsend, 14. Taith Chong, 9. Carlton Morris.
MORE: Real Madrid vs Man City final score, result, stats as Champions League classic thrills Santiago Bernabeu
Man City vs Luton live updates, highlights, and commentary
15th minute: As in the FA Cup game, Luton are giving De Bruyne far too much room to run. He slots a pass to Alvarez down the right channel but the Argentina forward makes a pig’s ear of his opportunity. Now De Bruyne finds Haaland in the area buit he’s dispossessed.
14th minute: Ohh, that maybe should have been a first City goal for Nunes. The hosts work the ball patiently before switch in play to Doku on the left. He cuts it back and the Portugal international is in space. It’s on his weaker foot, though and Kaminski makes a fairly routine save.
12th minute: De Bruyne goes down under a challenge from Berry. He wants a penalty but a very swift VAR check clears that one up.
9th minute: Gvardiol, who scored an absolute screamer with his weaker right foot against Real Madrid in midweek chances his arm again and Kaminski does well to turn behind. From the corner, De Bruyne blasts mikes over under pressure.
4th minute: Hashioka needed some treatment after being hit by Thor’s thunderbolt just then but he’s going to try to continue.
2nd minute: GOOOOAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Daiki Hashioka (OG)!!!!!!!
City’s matchday announcer is giving that to Haaland, but do me a favour! The City striker was played clean through, cut onto his right foot and was denied by Kaminski. Doku tried his luck from the loose ball, it spun back up towards Haaland, whose wild volley was probably heading for a throw until it sconed Hashioka and flew in.
1st minute: And we’re off.
1 mins before kickoff: This game is City’s annual City In The Community match, where the club celebrates its affiliated charity. However, two independent supporter groups are also drawing attention to the incredible grassroots work done by City fans to help some of Manchester’s most vulnerable. MCFC Fans Foodbank Support has been collecting at Manchester City men’s and women’s home matches since 2020 and is now the largest contributor to Manchester Central Football. Today is “Foodbank Awareness Day” in the UK and the MCFC Fans Foodbank Support has teamed up with the 1894 Group —who are responsible matchday displays and tifos at the Etihad — to hang a special banner in the ground to highlight their incredible work. Both groups have recently put pressure on City to review their controversial decision to increase season ticket prices once again.
.@MCFCfoodbank
@WeAre1894
pic.twitter.com/t7GwpP414d
— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) April 13, 2024
4 mins before kickoff: Here come the teams. The usual warm Etihad reception for the Premier League anthem coming up…
20 mins before kickoff: On the other end of the spectrum to relegating City in 1983, Luton also have some painful memories attached to this part of the world. Check out the tweet below to have a look at their previous visit to this ground. Safe to say a lot has happened since…
The last time Luton played at the Etihad was in the 2011 Conference playoff final.
They suffered heartbreak on penalties against AFC Wimbledon and remained in the 5th tier. Some journey for them since then. pic.twitter.com/dX47Xw1eJN
— City Tactics (@city_tactics) April 13, 2024
40 mins before kickoff: A couple of observations around that Manchester City lineup. The printed team sheets we were handed in the stadium had Kevin De Bruyne among both the starting XI and the substitutes. Calm down, Pep Guardiola hasn’t responded to the Belgian’s midweek illness by having him cloned. But Phil Foden, who was rumoured to start but is on the bench, wasn’t on the initial list at all. As someone familiar with copy mistakes (quiet, at the back) that suggests Foden was indeed set to start, with De Bruyne on the bench before they were switched.
Looks like there was another late change for City. De Bruyne is in both the starting XI and the bench on the printed teamsheet, with Foden (who is on the bench) nowhere to be seen. So a Foden/KDB 11th hour switch, I reckon. pic.twitter.com/nTCOEiXLkM
— Dom Farrell (@DomFarrell1986) April 13, 2024
Elsewhere, Kyle Walker has made an ahead-of-schedule return to the bench, where there is no place for John Stones, who played through some pain during the second half in Madrid and is not fully fit. That’s a worry for Guardiola going into Wednesday because the ball-playing England defender was vital to City’s second-half turnaround at the Santiago Bernabeu.
55 mins before kickoff: Injuries mean it looks like Luton will abandon their usual 3-4-3 formation for a back four. Ex-Manchester United youngster Teden Mengi hasn’t made it.
Your Hatters in the North West🫡 pic.twitter.com/PikyeIzQbb
— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) April 13, 2024
1 hour before kickoff: Here’s the City team. Starts for De Bruyne and Haaland, along with Rodri’s requested rest.
Your City side for #MCILUT 🩵
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Nunes, De Bruyne (C), Alvarez, Doku, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Ake, Grealish, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Gomez, Foden, Bobb#ManCity | @etihad | @citcmancity pic.twitter.com/KaqnC9ab3l
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 13, 2024
1 hr 20 mins before kickoff: Confirmed team news will be along in 20 minutes and it will be intriguing to see how much Pep Guardiola juggles his starting XI. There isn’t just the Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Real Madrid to factor into his calculations. Seven says from now, City face Chelsea in an FA Cup semifinal. If Guardiola names a pretty strong side today, expect a heavily rotated team at Wembley as he juggles resources across three competitions.
For Luton boss Rob Edwards, it’s almost a case of “any warm body”. His benches have been stacked with teenagers in recent weeks and the raft of first-team absentees is compounded by on-loan defender Issa Kabore being ineligible to face his parent club.
1 hr 40 mins before kickoff: This is the third meeting between City and Luton this season, with Guardiola’s men having come from behind to win 2-1 at Kenilworth Road in December before hammering the Hatters 6-2 in the FA Cup. Just the five Erling Haaland goals and four Kevin De Bruyne assists in that one. However, for City fans of a certain vintage, Luton Town (H) on the fixture list is accompanied by a particular sense of dread.
On the final day of the 1982/83 season, Luton won 1-0 at Maine Road thanks to Radomir Antic’s 86th-minute winner, leapfrogging City in the table to save themselves and condemn their opponents to relegation. City’s official website ran a feature about that game this week entitled “The Day the Sky Fell Down”. More than four decades on, could another Luton heist in Manchester ruin City’s end to the season?
2 hours before kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of Manchester City vs. Luton Town in the Premier League, a game that could have huge ramifications at both ends of the table as third top play third bottom. City will move to the summit with a win, while Luton will move out of the bottom three if they better Nottingham Forest’s result at Wolves.
Practice makes perfect!
@PhilFoden
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 12, 2024
Man City vs Luton kick off time
This Premier League clash takes place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, UK and kicks off on Saturday, April 13 at 3:00 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Sat, Apr. 13 | 10:00 a.m. ET |
| Canada | Sat, Apr. 13 | 10:00 a.m. ET |
| UK | Sat, Apr. 13 | 3:00 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Sun, Apr. 14 | 12:00 a.m. AEST |
| India | Sat, Apr. 13 | 7:30 p.m. IST |
Man City vs Luton lineups, team news
With the return leg against Real Madrid on the horizon in midweek, Guardiola made six changes as he looks to keep his squad fresh. John Stones joins Nathan Ake on the sidelines with Rodri rested on the bench, where there is an ahead-of-schedule return for Kyle Walker. Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne each start having claimed five goals and four assists respectively when City beat Luton 6-2 in the FA Cup.
Man City (4-1-4-1, right to left): Ortega (GK) — Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol — Kovavic — Nunes, De Bruyne, Alvarez, Doku — Haaland.
Man City subs (9): Ortega (GK), Walker, Ake, Grealish, Rodri, Silva, Gomez, Foden, Bobb
Luton boss Rob Edwards is missing a host of players for the season run-in with the Hatters still inside the relegation zone. Five first-team players are out for the remainder of the campaign and Issa Kabore is ineligible to face his parent club.
Luton (4-5-1 right to left): Kaminski (GK) — Hashioka, Mengi, Burke, Doughty — Townsend, Clark, Barkley, Ruddock, Berry — Morris.
Luton subs (9): Shea (GK), Krul (GK), Woodrow, Mpanzu, Johnson, Harris, Chigozie, Nelson, Piesold.
Man City vs Luton live stream, TV channel
Here’s how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world’s major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | — | Peacock |
| Canada | — |
Fubo Canada |
| UK | — | — |
| Australia | — | Optus Sport |
| India | — | JioTV, Hotstar |
USA: This game is available on the Peacock Network.
Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live-streaming exclusively via Fubo.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on-demand on Optus Sport.
UK: This game is not available for live broadcast or streaming due to the Saturday 3 p.m. embargo.
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