Manchester City are badly in need of a strong statement right now after having just been utterly shocked at Norwich City. It wasn’t just that City lost to a newly promoted side at Carrow Road, it’s that they lost to a very short-handed due to injury Norwich side.
The loss on Saturday showcased just how much the loss of Aymeric Laporte hurts this club. City has some real issues and weaknesses in defense (Nicolas Otamendi in particular needs to get better), and those were exposed on the weekend. Can Shakhtar Donetsk take advantage of those pull off a massive upset win in midweek?
We’ll see, as the two clubs begin their Euro campaign on Wednesday night in the Ukraine.
Despite what happened last time out, it doesn’t look good for the hosts. These teams played each other twice last season in the Champions League, and Manchester City won both games in blowout fashion, achieving a 9-0 advantage on aggregate.
City do have some fitness and injury concerns for this one of course though. The aforementioned Laporte is out indefinitely with a knee injury. Leroy Sane remains out until early 2020. Benjamin Mendy is under question for this one, as he also has a knee problem.
Manchester City Starting XI Prediction vs Shakhtar Donetsk
Raheem Sterling Sergio Aguero Riyad Mahrez
Bernardo Silva Rodri Kevin De Bruyne
Oleksandr Zinchenko Nicolas Otamendi John Stones Kyle Walker
Ederson
Manchester City at Shakhtar Donetsk FYIs
Kickoff: “Metalist” Oblast Sports Complex, Wednesday Sept 18, 8pm
The pre-match media conference with manager Pep Guardiola and Oleksandr Zinchenko in attendance, will be held at the Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv at 5.30pm (local time).
Google Result Probability: Manchester City win 72%, Draw 18%, Shakhtar Donetsk win 10%
Odds via Betway: Manchester City win 1.3, Draw 5.5, Shakhtar Donetsk win 8.5
Prediction: City 4, Shakhtar Donetsk 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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