Manchester City began their Premier League title defence with a victory, as goals from Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic led to a 2-0 win against Enzo Maresca's Chelsea in his debut match as manager. Haaland celebrated his 100th appearance for the club by scoring his 91st goal, and Kovacic added another in his return to Stamford Bridge, setting the stage for Pep Guardiola's team to pursue a record-breaking fifth consecutive English top-flight title. Guardiola chose to rest all four of his Euro 2024 finalists—Rodri, Kyle Walker, John Stones, and Phil Foden—giving them additional time to recover from their summer commitments. Despite this, the champions managed to assert their dominance against a Chelsea side they had not defeated in the previous league season. Maresca faces a challenging task of forming a cohesive team from Chelsea's extensive squad, which includes over 43 players and more than 50 in total, including those on loan. Pre-match issues arose with Raheem Sterling's camp expressing disappointment over his exclusion from the matchday squad, and Ben Chilwell also missing out, while Conor Gallagher and Romelu Lukaku were among those not assigned squad numbers. None of Chelsea's nine summer acquisitions were part of Maresca's starting lineup. Notably, Enzo Fernandez was appointed captain despite recent controversy over a social media post following Argentina's Copa America win. In contrast, Manchester City exemplifies stability and consistent performance.