The season was unusual in that the fixture dates of domestic and European competitions were altered to accommodate the FIFA World Cup played in November and December 2022 in Qatar.

Manchester City kicked off the season by losing the Community Shield to Liverpool 1–3 and were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Southampton at the quarter-final stage in January 2023.

Supplier: Puma / Sponsor: Etihad Airways Manchester City had already resolved their most pressing squad issue before the end of the previous season, having announced their agreement to recruit a prolific centre-forward in Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

Kalvin Phillips was duly signed from Leeds United for a reported fee of £42 million plus add-ons on 4 July, and took the number 4 shirt previously worn by Vincent Kompany.

City began pre-season with several key first-team players entering the final years of their contract amidst rumours that they might leave the club for a fee rather than renew.

[11] This left Pep Guardiola with just two senior specialist full-backs in his squad at the start of the new season, both of whom were natural right-backs, meaning City did not have a first team left-back.

[12] Manchester City opted to start pre-season training a week later than most of their rivals, and scheduled only two friendly warm-up games as part of their tour of the United States, in order to ensure their players would have sufficient rest.

However, they tasted defeat in their first competitive match of the season, losing 1–3 to a more-prepared Liverpool side in the Community Shield held at Leicester City's King Power Stadium.

[26][27] By late September, and the first international break of the season, City were second in the league, one point behind Arsenal and ahead of Spurs on goal difference, with a record of five wins and two draws.

Mohamed Salah scored the only goal off of a second-half breakaway, after Foden had seen his effort earlier in the contest ruled out by VAR for a foul on Fabinho by Haaland in the build-up.

A second consecutive 0–0 Champions League away draw, to Dortmund on 25 October, was sufficient to ensure City would qualify for the last 16 as group winners with one game to spare, although Mahrez again missed a penalty.

[32] Three days later, City beat Fulham 2–1 in the league at the Etihad, having played for over an hour with ten men after João Cancelo had been sent off when adjudged to have deliberately denied Harry Wilson a goal-scoring opportunity with a shoulder charge.

[33] The Blues lost their final game before the mid-season break for the World Cup on 12 November, having been beaten 1–2 at home to Brentford with a brace, including a 98th-minute winner, from Ivan Toney.

In their first match back on 22 December, City beat Liverpool for the first time in two seasons with a 3–2 win in the fourth round of the EFL Cup, thus knocking out the current holders and qualifying for the quarter-finals.

They were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Southampton in a 2–0 defeat at St Mary's Stadium, and dropped league points against Everton and Manchester United to allow Arsenal to open up an eight-point gap at the top of the table.

Until then Cancelo had played the most minutes of any of the squad's defenders but had found game time more limited since the World Cup with the emergence of teenage academy graduate Rico Lewis and the form of Nathan Aké.

[40] Despite this, City went back to top of the league on 15 February when they beat Arsenal 3–1 at the Emirates Stadium to move ahead of them on goal difference, although their opponents that day still had a game in hand.

On 14 March, on a record breaking night, City defeated RB Leipzig 7–0 at home (8–1 on aggregate) in their Champions League round of 16 second leg tie to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition.

[41] Prior to the final international break of the season, the Blues displayed an impressive offensive showing against Burnley, recording a 6–0 home win in the FA Cup quarter-finals with another Haaland hat-trick.

[42] Following the resumption of domestic football on City convincingly beat Liverpool 4–1 at home on 1 April, despite going a goal behind and missing the injured Haaland and Foden from their matchday squad.

City would next face holders Real Madrid in a rematch of the previous year's semi-finals, where the Spanish giants had dramatically won 6–5 on aggregate after extra time en route to their 14th European crown.

[55] The latter scenario subsequently materialised, as Arsenal lost 0–1 at Forest on 20 May, with Manchester City thus securing a third consecutive league title, and fifth in six years, with three games to spare.

[56] On 17 May, in one of their best performances of the Guardiola era, City thrashed Real Madrid 4–0 at home in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals for a convincing 5–1 aggregate victory.

Once again, the Blues had an abundance of chances to score more, but, similarly to last season, Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois's prolific performance kept his side in the game, this time until City's third goal.

[57][58] With the title already secured, City ended their league campaign with a home win, an away draw and an away defeat against Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford, respectively, as Guardiola rotated his squad to rest players ahead of their two upcoming finals.

[59][60] On 10 June, Manchester City faced Inter Milan in the Champions League final, aiming to end the 53-year European trophy drought and secure the continental treble, and the match was a tense and close affair.

City began the final with Kyle Walker unexpectedly left on the bench in favour of Nathan Aké; Inter retained the same starting line-up that had played in previous rounds.

Having earlier won the Premier league and FA Cup titles, they achieved a continental treble, becoming only the second English and eighth European men's club to have done so.

On 25 April, Manchester City announced they would travel to the United States for two pre-season friendlies in preparation for the new season, starting with a fixture against Club América on 20 July.

The draw was held on 24 August 2022 after the second round fixtures were completed, and they were drawn at home to the previous season's runners-up Chelsea as one of seven all-Premier League ties.