Manchester City can clinch the top spot in Group F with a victory over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim tomorrow night at the Etihad. However, only a draw will be required in the UEFA Champions League group stage finale if Lyon fail to defeat Shakhtar Donetsk. City are heavily favored/projected to beat the German side that finished third domestically last season; their best Bundesliga finish in club history.
City have already booked their passage through to the UCL knockout round, but obviously topping the group is the ambition, as it gives them a favorable round of 16 match-up against a grouping runner-up come March.
Kick-off for this game is at 8pm (BST), 3pm (EST), Wednesday December 11th at the Etihad Stadium. If you’re going to be wagering on this game, or doing any betting in general, check out this online casino which offers free spins. You’ll see that most sports books are offering the following odds on this match: City to win at 2/11, a draw is 13/2 while Hoffenheim are backed to emerge victorious at 14/1.
Meanwhile Google Result Probability is showing this as the projected outcome: Manchester City to win at 80%, a draw is rated at 13% and a Hoffenheim win 7%.
“We still have a target against Hoffenheim to win the game and finish top,” said City forward Leroy Sane.
“We want to finish first and hopefully look good for the Round of 16 draw – it’s important we win and end the group stage strongly. Even more so because we lost at Chelsea on Saturday and didn’t start the group stage very well.”
For the City Starting XI Prediction go to this link.
Prediction: Manchester City 3, Hoffenheim 0
Feel free to post your own starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.