Manchester City rounded off their pre-season tour of Asia with a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in Seoul, South Korea.

They trailed at half-time after Jorge Dominguez capitalised on some sloppy defending from a corner but Omar Marmoush converted two Antoine Semenyo crosses in quick succession after the break and Rayan Ait-Nouri added another at the death.

The Atletico players were furious with Marmoush’s second as the big-screen replays showed that Semenyo was well offside, and there was a whiff of suspicion about Ait-Nouri’s goal too.

After making sweeping changes in the previous two matches, Enzo Maresca only made one substitution at half-time as his preparations ramp up for the new season, giving us some idea of how he wants things to look in next weekend’s Community Shield and beyond.

The rest of City’s World Cup players — Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Jeremy Doku and the England representatives — will report back for training on Wednesday ahead of an open training session on Thursday, which will give us more clues ahead of the big kick-off in a fortnight’s time.

Sam Lee breaks down the main talking points from City’s final tour victory.

Which flank will Semenyo settle on?

The Ghana winger probably comes away from this tour as the biggest standout, having shown his quality in all three matches, even in the sapping conditions against K-League All Stars on Wednesday.

He was electric in the first half of the first match against Inter last Saturday and he was especially good in the second half against Atletico here. He was brilliant for City’s first goal, sliding to retrieve a pass that was played behind him before springing up immediately and bursting away from his man to put in a low cross that Marmoush did well to get on the end of.

That assist 🤯

Semenyo tees up Marmoush to level the scores in Seoul! ✨ pic.twitter.com/mrGDxDBhHz

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 9, 2026

A few moments later, it was a similar story, with Semenyo getting in behind on the left to cross for Marmoush to score — it was slightly less impressive, though, given he was miles offside only for the linesman to miss it.

Semenyo has talked about his excitement at playing for Maresca due to how the Italian wants direct dribbling from his wingers and that should encourage City fans ahead of the new season, too.

One small doubt concerns where Semenyo will play because he has been at his best on the left wing but that is most likely where Jeremy Doku will come in after he returns to training next week. If Maresca were to play Semenyo on the left and Doku on the right, that would certainly add a fresh dynamic to the City attack, but there should be some electric wing play no matter the combination.

Savinho seems suited to City’s new style

It remains to be seen whether Savinho will still be at City next season, given the long-standing interest in his services from Tottenham, but in the meantime, he has been another winger who is seemingly benefiting from Maresca’s up-and-at-’em approach out wide.

In the first half against Atletico, he repeatedly ran at the Spanish side’s defence and although his first chops inside often ended up with him being unable to shift his balance enough to get on the ball cleanly, he had great success when driving to the byline, where he could put the ball across the face of goal.

Savinho impressed against Atletico (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Marmoush got his two goals in those areas after the break but before half-time, there was nobody in the area to captalise. That scenario presents another cause for optimism ahead of the new season: imagine how many goals Haaland will get if City continue to put crosses into dangerous areas from both sides.

Maresca has made his mark – expect a major tone shift

It is obvious from both speaking to the players and watching both training sessions and matches that City’s build-up play is a lot more straightforward than it was under Pep Guardiola.

Under the previous manager, City would constantly change how they were going to play out from the back from game to game, and give huge responsibility to players like Bernardo Silva and Rodri to hold onto the ball and find solutions whenever they opened up.

Under Maresca, City have been working on certain rehearsed patterns to help them get the ball out from the goalkeeper into midfield. The coaching staff have not tried to conceal any tactical plans from the media or opposition at the two open training sessions, so it has been clear to see the moves that they have been working on on the training ground in matches.

The basic idea seems to be to get the ball to a free man quickly and advance up the pitch as directly as possible with passes through the lines when they present themselves.

Combined with the wingers’ instructions to dribble at speed, it does suggest that City are going to be fun to watch. One drawback could be that they will be more predictable to play against, even allowing for different patterns to be introduced during the season.

Overall, City are likely to be less polished than they were under Guardiola, partly due to the tactical instructions but also because the players that have been recruited over the past couple of years are more suited to a direct style. If there is less control of matches, then individual quality will have to make the difference — they do have plenty of that but the flow of City games could look very different to what are used to.

The Texas Rangers aim to add to their four-game winning streak when they take on the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday at 2:35 p.m. ET, at Globe Life Field. Kumar Rocker (4-8, 4.08 ERA) will start for the Rangers, who are 59-58 this season and second in the AL West. Cade Povich (2-1, 3.91 ERA) is starting for the Orioles, who are 56-61 and fourth in the AL East.

How to watch Baltimore Orioles vs. Texas Rangers

Orioles vs. Rangers odds

• Favorite Moneyline: Rangers -139
• Underdog Moneyline: Orioles +115
• Total: 8
• Total Over Odds: -118
• Total Under Odds: -102

Injury reports

Rangers

Kyle Higashioka: 10 Day IL (Flexor tendon), Josh Jung: 10 Day IL (Calf), Jose Corniell: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Jack Leiter: 15 Day IL (Ankle), Jakob Junis: 15 Day IL (Groin), Danny Jansen: 60 Day IL (Forearm), Robert Garcia: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Jalen Beeks: 60 Day IL (Back), Michael Helman: 60 Day IL (Hand), Carter Baumler: 60 Day IL (Ribs)

Orioles

Samuel Basallo: 10 Day IL (Shoulder), Blaze Alexander: 10 Day IL (Hand), Zach Eflin: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Felix Bautista: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Keegan Akin: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Chris Bassitt: 60 Day IL (Back), Ryan Helsley: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Ryan Mountcastle: 60 Day IL (Foot), Jordan Westburg: 60 Day IL (Ucl), Colin Selby: 60 Day IL (Shoulder)

Stats to know

• Texas’ Ezequiel Duran has hit 13 home runs this season. He has also tallied 63 RBIs and has scored 52 runs. In 409 plate appearances, he has recorded a .275 BA, .328 OBP and .456 SLG with a 7.1% walk rate and a 23.5% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording nine steals on 11 attempts.
• In 469 plate appearances, Brandon Nimmo has hit 12 long balls, tallied 43 RBIs and scored 48 runs. He is batting .274/.341/.442 and has posted a 21.5% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate. Nimmo has recorded six steals on seven attempts.
• Baltimore’s Pete Alonso is slashing .247/.340/.454 this season with 23 home runs, 71 RBIs (14th in MLB) and an OPS of .794. He has a 24.9% strikeout rate and an 11.3% walk rate in 506 plate appearances, and he has scored 68 total runs.
• In 526 plate appearances, Gunnar Henderson has slashed .215/.295/.387 this season. He has hit 18 long balls and driven in 47 runs with a strikeout rate of 22.8% and a walk rate of 8.6%. He has stolen eight bases on 12 attempts and has scored 65 runs.

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Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks play a rubber match on Sunday at 4:10 p.m. ET, with the series deadlocked at 1-1. Justin Wrobleski (11-3, 3.31 ERA) will start for the Dodgers, who are 70-47 this season and first in the NL West. Eduardo Rodriguez (10-4, 2.71 ERA) is starting for the Diamondbacks, who are 62-56 and second in the NL West.

How to watch Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks odds

• Favorite Moneyline: Dodgers -208
• Underdog Moneyline: Diamondbacks +170
• Total: 8.5
• Total Over Odds: -105
• Total Under Odds: -115

Injury reports

Dodgers

Dalton Rushing: 10 Day IL (Arm), Blake Treinen: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Brock Stewart: 15 Day IL (Shoulder), Will Klein: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Bobby Miller: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Gavin Stone: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Jake Cousins: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Will Smith: 60 Day IL (Neck), Brusdar Graterol: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Blake Snell: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Kris Bubic: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Tyler Glasnow: 60 Day IL (Back), Ben Casparius: 60 Day IL (Shoulder)

Diamondbacks

Jordan Lawlar: 10 Day IL (Hamstring), Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: 10 Day IL (Adductor), Tommy Troy: 10 Day IL (Shoulder), Ryan Thompson: 15 Day IL (Back), Drey Jameson: 15 Day IL (Hip), Mike Soroka: 15 Day IL (Lower body), A.J. Puk: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Cristian Mena: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Blake Walston: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Ryne Nelson: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Zac Gallen: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Corbin Burnes: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Andrew Saalfrank: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Justin Martinez: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Merrill Kelly: day-to-day (Leg)

Stats to know

• Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani has hit 26 home runs this season, which ranks 9th in MLB. He has also tallied 71 RBIs (14th in MLB) and has scored 73 runs. In 492 plate appearances, he has recorded a .294 BA, .398 OBP and .547 SLG with a 14% walk rate and a 22.8% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording six steals on nine attempts.
• In 500 plate appearances, Andy Pages has slashed .270/.336/.458 this season. He has hit 19 long balls and driven in 75 runs (8th in MLB) with a strikeout rate of 20% and a walk rate of 8.2%. He has 11 stolen bases on 17 attempts. He has come around to score 66 times.
• Arizona’s Corbin Carroll is slashing .242/.337/.469 this season with 16 home runs, 54 RBIs and an OPS of .806. He has a 22.4% strikeout rate and an 11.5% walk rate in 495 plate appearances, and he has scored 70 total runs. Carroll has recorded 16 steals on 18 attempts.
• In 496 plate appearances, Ketel Marte has hit 19 long balls, tallied 62 RBIs and scored 60 runs. He is batting .244/.306/.433 and has posted a 15.3% strikeout rate and a 7.7% walk rate.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images