Will City benefit from the Pochettino rumours?
Neymar, Messi, Mbappé, Ederson, Foden, Gündogan and many more. There will definitely be no shortage of big-name football stars on Wednesday night when the two contenders for the Champions League group stage title Manchester City and Paris St Germain go head-to-head in matchday five. At stake is the top spot in Group A.
In the first leg between Manchester City and PSG at the end of September, it would have paid to bet on the French side to win. Pochettino’s side won 2-0 at home in the Princes’ Park and put a real exclamation mark on the result. On Wednesday, however, coach Pep Guardiola’s star ensemble will be aiming for revenge at the Etihad Stadium. A home win would be enough for the English to clinch top spot in their group after just five of their six matches.
The reunion of Guardiola and Messi, who once enjoyed a very successful spell at Barcelona, adds a special touch to this eagerly awaited and extremely high-profile top-of-the-table clash. Nevertheless, City defenders should keep a special eye on the multiple world footballer, after all, he has already scored seven goals in his career against the English champions.
Manchester City – Statistics & current form
Manchester City are playing a decent group stage so far. The aforementioned 2-0 defeat against Paris St. Germain should not obscure the fact that the other three matches were all victorious. With 15 goals, the Sky Blues are currently the most successful attackers in the Champions League behind FC Bayern. In terms of expected goals, the English champions even have a value of 3.4, the highest since records began.
Especially at home, the Citizens did not let anything go wrong in the two group matches they played. Guardiola’s team celebrated a spectacular 6:3 victory against RB Leipzig and a 4:1 win against Club Brugge. If you expect a lot of goals in the top match on Wednesday evening, you can predict over 3.5 goals between Manchester City and PSG, for example. We think it is rather unlikely that the home side will go without conceding a goal, given the enormous offensive quality of the French champions.
ManCity with a treble to win the group?
Despite this, the reigning English title holders remain the favourites in our eyes, and rightly so. This assessment can also be attributed to recent performances in the Premier League. Before the international break, there was the emotional 2-0 derby win against United, before Everton were also brought to their knees at home with a commanding 3-0 win at the weekend. Thanks to four wins from the last five games, the defending champions have already climbed back up to second place.
In their current form, Guardiola’s team looks a little more mature and consistent. Moreover, the Catalan coach will have spent dozens of hours working out a match plan to avoid a second successive defeat against Paris. Moreover, in order to make the final complicated away game obsolete for the classification, a win is needed. We are confident that this will happen with the support of our own fans.
In terms of personnel, Kevin de Bruyne will still not be available. Besides the Belgian world class player, Ferran Torres is also missing. Whether Jack Grealish will be fit in time will only be decided in the short term. It would certainly be important, because no other professional has created more top-class chances in the group stage so far than the former Aston Villa star.
Predicted Manchester City line-up:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Silva, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Foden
Last matches played by Manchester City:
Premier League
11/21 2021 – Manchester City 3 – 0 Everton
11/06 2021 – Manchester United 0 – 2 Manchester City
Champions League Grp. A
11/03 2021 – Manchester City 4 – 1 Club Bruges
Premier League
10/30 2021 – Manchester City 0 – 2 Crystal Palace
Carabao Cup
10/27 2021 – West Ham (5)0 – 0(3) Manchester City
PSG – Statistics & current form
For several months and many matches Lionel Messi had to be patient. Last weekend the time had finally come. In the 3:1 home victory of his Parisians, the Argentine scored his first league goal for his new club. Things are going much better for “La Pulga” in the Champions League. He has already scored three goals in three games. If the world footballer, who is only 1.69 metres tall, has his way, the next goals should follow on Wednesday evening.
Currently, the French champions are only second in Group A, despite winning the first leg at home against Manchester City. On the other hand, coach Mauricio Pochettino’s team had lapses in the away games in Leipzig (2:2) and in the opening game in Bruges (1:1). This means that Paris has been without a win in three Champions League matches this season. This is one of the reasons why it is so easy to predict a home win between Manchester City and PSG.
Paris still without a win away from home in the group stage
Besides the “away weakness” on international soil, there is another statistic that puts worry lines on the foreheads of the capital club’s fans. In total, only one of five direct duels against the Citizens could be won. In only three of 13 trips to the island did Paris return with three points in the European Cup (four draws, five defeats).
That the individual quality of the title contenders does not need to be discussed becomes clear when looking at the starting eleven. At the same time, however, it has to be said that the defence in particular has not yet lived up to the highest expectations. Even in the French league, the industry leaders have conceded at least one goal in five of the last six games. Marquinhos, Kimpembe and Co. will therefore almost certainly be pushed to their limits again against the Citizens’ so variable offensive.
Speaking of defence: Keylor Navas is expected to be in charge of the Pochettino team this time, after Donnarumma is currently suffering from stomach problems. Draxler and Rafinha will also be missing, although even in top form they do not play a major role in the star ensemble at the moment.
Predicted PSG line-up:
Navas; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Mendes; Verratti, Gueye, Wijnaldum; Messi, Mbappe, Neymar
Last matches played by PSG:
Ligue 1
11/20 2021 – Paris Saint-Germain 3 – 1 Nantes
11/06 2021 – Bordeaux 2 – 3 Paris Saint-Germain
Champions League Grp. A
11/03 2021 – RB Leipzig 2 – 2 Paris Saint-Germain
Ligue 1
10/29 2021 – Paris Saint-Germain 2 – 1 Lille
10/24 2021 – Marseille 0 – 0 Paris Saint-Germain
Manchester City – PSG Tip
What does the question of who will be the new Manchester United coach have to do with the upcoming Champions League clash between Manchester City and PSG? According to the betting odds, none other than Mauricio Pochettino is currently the favourite to succeed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite the Argentine being under contract in Paris until 2023. According to media reports, however, the former Tottenham coach is unhappy and desperate to return to England.
From the point of view of the French champions, however, this disturbing noise comes at the worst possible time, as they are aiming for victory in Group A on Wednesday evening. Messi, Neymar, Mbappé and Co. would need an away win to avoid being dependent on their rivals on the final matchday. However, we think that is relatively unlikely at the Etihad Stadium.
In our eyes, the Citizens are the slightly more mature team at the moment, spreading their load over several shoulders and also possessing the better balanced style of play as well as the better defence. Coupled with the home advantage and the fact that the Parisians have failed to win away at Leipzig and Bruges this season, we believe in the Sky Blues’ three-goal win.
We therefore bet on a home win in the top match of Group A between Manchester City and PSG and get a solid 1.68 at Bwin, which is worth a stake of six units. Alternative bets include over 3.5 or two goals in the first 45 minutes. Given the outstanding offensive qualities of both teams, we do not believe in a cautious feeling-out.
