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Manchester City vs Monaco. UEFA Champions League First Knockout Round.

Etihad StadiumAttendance53,351.

Manchester City 5

  • R Sterling (26th minute)
  • S Agüero (58th minute, 71st minute)
  • J Stones (77th minute)
  • L Sané (82nd minute)

Monaco 3

  • Falcao (32nd minute, 61st minute)
  • K Mbappe (40th minute)

Manchester City v Monaco preview: Pep Guardiola tight-lipped on goalkeeper selection

Pep Guardiola prior to kick off at the Etihad
Image: Pep Guardiola has yet to decide who will start in goal

Manchester City host Monaco on Tuesday night in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

City boss Guardiola has reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in each of the last seven seasons as a manager, winning the tournament with Barcelona as a player in 1992 and as manager in 2009 and 2011.

He has the chance to progress City past the quarter-finals stage for just the second time in the club's history, but faces a tough test against the Ligue 1 leaders.

Following the weekend's results, Monaco lead Paris Saint-Germain and Nice by three points in the French league and they have already beaten Premier League opposition twice this season after registering two 2-1 victories over Tottenham in the group stages.

They also beat Arsenal on away goals in the last 16 in 2014/15 Champions League, winning 3-1 at the Emirates in the first leg.

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14:  Bernardo Silva of Monaco (10) celebrates with Radamel Falcao Garcia and Joao Moutinho as he scores their first goal during
Image: Bernardo Silva of Monaco celebrates with Radamel Falcao Garcia and Joao Moutinho against Tottenham

Team news

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany is unavailable with the leg injury that forced him to miss the FA Cup tie at Huddersfield.

Left-back Gael Clichy is hoping to prove his fitness after a back problem while Guardiola is still to decide whether Willy Caballero or Claudio Bravo will play in goal.

Also See:

Claudio Bravo during the match between Manchester City and Southampton
Image: Claudio Bravo has come under pressure for his starting place

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (knee) and striker Gabriel Jesus (foot) are both sidelined with long-term injuries.

Opta stats

This is the first competitive encounter between Manchester City and Monaco.

Manchester City have never lost to French opposition in European competition (W1 D2), with all three previous meetings coming against PSG.

Meanwhile, Monaco have come out on top in each of their three Champions League knockout ties with English clubs (v Manchester Utd in 1997/98, Chelsea in 2003/04, Arsenal in 2014/15).

In fact, Monaco have lost only one of their five Champions League away games against English opposition (W2 D2), winning their last two CL games on English soil (v Arsenal in February 2015, v Tottenham in September 2016).

Manchester City have won their Champions League group only once in six participations (2015/16). It's also the first time Guardiola hasn't secured top spot in a Champions League group campaign as manager.

Monaco have topped their Champions League group four times in as many participations under the current format (2003/04, 2004/05, 2014/15, 2016/17).

City are unbeaten in their last eight Champions League home games (W5 D3), conceding only five goals in the along the way, their longest run without a defeat in the competition at the Etihad.

However, Manchester City have won only one of their five home games in the Champions League knockout stages (D2 L2), it was against PSG last April.

Monaco have lost five of their last seven Champions League knockout games (W1 D1), with their only win in that time coming in London against Arsenal (3-1, February 2015).

Sergio Agüero has scored in only one of his last six Champions League games at the Etihad (hat-trick v Borussia Mönchengladbach). He's also failed to find the net in his last 522 minutes of Champions League knockout action.

Sergio Aguero watches the action from the Manchester City bench
Image: Sergio Aguero should start in attack for Manchester City

Despite having made only 10 starts in the Champions League, Radamel Falcao has scored six goals and delivered one assist.

Charlie's prediction

We know Monaco are a dangerous team now. They used to be very cautious and structured as a counter-attacking side and now they've scored 76 goals in Ligue 1. Everybody is raving about Kylian Mbappe-Lottin but we'll see how he performs on the big stage.

It feels like there's more belief in the Manchester City camp though. The defence is obviously still not right but they did look like they had a bit of a stronger core against Bournemouth, although I still don't like Yaya Toure in the defensive-midfield role.

I think if Guardiola weighed things up he'd probably rather win the Champions League and I'm confident they'll go far.

I think we'll get something else from Aguero because he knows he's got a good run back in the team if he plays well but Pep will drop him again if his level drops.

I'm looking at City to win by a couple of goals and I'd back Kevin de Bruyne to break the deadlock because he's a big-game player.

Charlie predicts: 3-1 and De Bruyne to score first (55/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Manchester City are fancied to head to France for the second leg with a lead and can be backed at 3/5 to do so while Monaco are 9/2 for victory. Jamie Redknapp foresees a good night for the hosts with Aguero scoring first in a 2-1 victory, which is a 18/1 shot.

Manchester City and Monaco have both only kept one clean sheet in this season's Champions League, which opens the possibility of plenty of goals. With that in mind, Manchester City to win and both teams to score can be backed at 2/1.

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