After watching the top teams in the English Premier League struggle during the opening weekend, Manchester City will hope for a serene outing when they travel to West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Manchester United and Liverpool only picked up narrow wins, with Chelsea managing just a draw and Arsenal crashing to West Ham as the Premier League returned. Manchester City, therefore, have an opportunity to make an early statement by beating West Brom comprehensively at the Hawthorns.
One man who can help Manchester City bang in the goals in their first Premier League match of the season is Raheem Sterling, the £49million summer signing from Liverpool.
Sterling has looked good in preseason for Manchester City, and with better, more creative players around him, the feeling is the youngster can do even better, in terms of goals and assists.
"He has settled in very well," Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who signed a contract extension last week, said. "He wants to come here and wants to have new challenges.
"He is working very well and it is easy for good players to settle in a good team," added Chilean Pellegrini. "I think we are going to have a very successful player this year."
Sterling, Sergio Aguero, David Silva and the rest will have to be at their absolute best to be able to unlock the West Brom defence, which will be well-drilled as it always is under Tony Pulis.
Pulis did well to take West Brom away from relegation worries after taking over from Alan Irvine in the second half of last season, and now, with a full season to work with, the former Stoke manager will target a top-ten finish for the Baggies.
West Brom have made some interesting signings in Rickie Lambert, James McClean, James Chester and Serge Gnabry, and while the latter will sit out owing to a lack of match fitness, the other three could make their debuts for the club.
"I've always worked with the material I am given and that's always been my philosophy, to try to squeeze everything out of everybody," Pulis said.
"The club has a good structure and we haven't made too many changes but most things are in place."
Pulis will know his team will have to expend every ounce of energy to stop this Manchester City attacking force from scoring.
Team news: West Brom: Goalkeeper Ben Foster remains sidelined, while former City defender Joleon Lescott is a doubtful starter along with Gareth McAuley.
Manchester City: New signing Fabian Delph has not recovered from the hamstring injury he picked up in preseason, with Gale Clichy also ruled out with an ankle problem. The players involved in the Copa America – Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis and Fernandinho – returned late from holidays and are still not fully match fit, according to Pellegrini.
Where to Watch Live
West Brom vs Manchester City is scheduled for an 8 pm BST (12.30 am IST, 3 pm ET) start. Star Sports 4 will provide live coverage of the EPL match, while the match can also be watched via live streaming online on Hotstar and Starsports.com.
Catch the Premier League action in the UK on Sky Sports 1, with the live stream options on Sky Go and Watch Sky Sports. Audience in the UK can also listen to West Brom vs Man City live on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Audience in the US can catch all the action live on NBC Sports, while the game can also be live streamed on NBC Live Extra.
Viewers in Australia can watch the game live on Fox Sports, with the live stream options on Fox Sports EPL and Foxtel Play.
