Manchester City have all but booked their place into the UEFA Champions League round of 16, already, but the winner of the Grouping G is still up for grabs. Barring a major upset, by the time Tuesday evening’s fixture at FC Copenhagen has concluded, the English champions will have taken 12 points from 12 possible in Europe. And the Danish club on the opposite side will be all but eliminated.
City slaughtered Copenhagen, 5-0, in the reverse fixture last week. The away match, for Pep Guardiola’s side, should be a cake walk as well.
Man City vs Copenhagen UCL Group G, Matchday 4 of 6
Kickoff: Wed. Oct 5, Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark
MCFC Starting XI Prediction: Go Here
After Extra Time Podcast: Spotify Apple
Google Result Probability: Copenhagen 4% Man City 87% Draw 9%
UCL Group Standings/Form: Copenhagen 3rd, 1pt, LDL Man City 1st, 9pts, WWW
Manchester City Team News
The Cityzens, coming off a 4-0 thumbing of Southampton FC, have a pretty fit squad. The will be sans a couple key cogs in in their defense though, as both Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are both long term injury absentees. The good news is that John Stones is on the mend however.
That said, he is very unlikely to be risked here, given the situation, due to the Englishman’s nagging hamstring issue. Safe to say that Guardiola can rest a few starters here, and still cruise to victory.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.