Manchester City return to action at the Etihad Stadium when taking on Porto in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening. This Group C match is scheduled for a 20:00 GMT kick-off and will draw a large audience thanks to the live television coverage. The home team aim to get off to the perfect start and hit top spot in the pool at the earliest opportunity.
Manchester City and FC Porto have met twice before on competitive action with the English Premier League side coming out on top twice. The Cityzens won a Europa League match in Porto by a 2-1 score back in 2012 before claiming an impressive 4-0 victory on home soil in the rematch. Will we see the locals maintain their 100% record against Porto or will the visitors fire back?
Man City edge out Arsenal
Manchester City have been dropped into Group C and are expected to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament as winners of the pool. Pep Guardiola’s side are under pressure to win both the Champions League and Premier League, which is no mean feat, but last season’s failures mean anything less could end up costing the manager his job. Everyone in the home dressing room will be out to set the standard with a strong home win.
The English side set-up for this Champions League opener having beaten Arsenal in the league at this venue on Saturday evening. They claimed the points thanks to a 1-0 score that day with the winning goal scored by Raheem Sterling on 23 minutes. That was just a little closer than fans would have hoped but the Cityzens got the win and banked three vital points. They’ll now try to build momentum heading into a busy period of the season.
Porto held to a draw
Porto know the size of the task that awaits them when travelling to the home of one of European football’s top teams, but they arrive with nothing to prove. All the pressure is on their opponents and the fact the Etihad Stadium will be without fans could work in their favour. They’ll face no opposition from the stands and there will be no pressure put on the officials. That could make Porto’s job just a little more manageable.
The away team were last seen in action drawing 2-2 away from home against rivals Sporting Lisbon in the Portuguese Primeira Liga on Saturday. Goals for Uribe and JM Corona were cancelled out by strikes from Gomes dos Santos and Vietto with the latter coming in the final few minutes of the match to deny Porto a crucial away win.
Man City vs Porto prediction
Man City are in fine form and have the attacking players to hurt Porto and blast the locals to a perfect start. Porto know this so may set-up to defend their goal and hit the home team on the counter-attack.
Champions League odds
Man City are 1.23 to win at 22bet with Porto 11.5 and the draw 6.55.
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