Manchester City have an opportunity to reach the UEFA Champions League round of 16 for the sixth straight season tomorrow night. All they need to do is beat visiting Shakhtar Donetsk at home, and hope Hoffenheim beat Lyon. So let’s take a look at who is fit for selection and who is unavailable for the Group F clash at the Etihad.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola has already confirmed that both Ilkay Gundogan and Nicolas Otamendi are full go. That’s the good news. The bad news is that all-world midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is ruled out for a substantial period due to ligament damage sustained in last week’s League Cup victory over London club Fulham.
Backup goalkeeper Claudio Bravo is a long-term absentee, as is Eliaquim Mangala.
Flipping over to the other side, it looks like Shakhtar will have three players who almost certainly won’t feature. They are Ivan Ordets (thigh injury), Maksym Malyshev (unknown issue) and Fernando (ankle problem). All in all, it looks like a very probable win for the Cityzens.
Man City vs Shakhtar Donetsk FYIs
Press Conference videos, quotes: coming soon
Man City Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Kickoff/TV: Wednesday November 7, 8pm BST, 3PM EST, BT Sport 3, TNT
Odds via Bet365: Man City 1/9, Shakhtar Donetsk 25/1, draw 10/1
Prediction: Man City 2, Shakhtar Donetsk 0
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 Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.