Manchester City host Borussia Monchengladbach in Champions League
Tuesday 8 December 2015 21:14, UK
Manchester City host a revitalised Borussia Monchengladbach needing a win and a favour from Sevilla to top their Champions League group - from which they have already qualified - to give them a much-needed easier last-16 draw.
Manuel Pellegrini's surrendered top spot in the Premier League to Leicester after they were out-played in every department in a 2-0 defeat at a windswept Britannia Stadium against Stoke on Saturday.
And Gladbach arrive in buoyant mood having brought an end to Bayern Munich's unbeaten record this season thanks to an emphatic 3-1 win.
City's defence have recorded just two clean sheets in the last 18 matches, after not conceding a goal in their opening five games of the season, and it is no coincidence the absence of captain Vincent Kompany to injury has affected their stability at the back.
However, in Europe, they have already booked their spot in the knockout stages, although their hopes of topping Group D rest on Sevilla needing to beat Juventus at home as well as a win of their own at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.
Pellegrini will be ideally looking to avoid another early clash against one of Europe's heavyweights having suffered successive eliminations at the hands of Barcelona in their last two campaigns.
"A lot of people were disappointed not to be top of the group, but it is not finished," said Pellegrini, whose side lost 1-0 at Juventus in their previous group fixture.
"We have to play one game more and Juventus have to go to Sevilla. Sevilla are fighting for the Europa League and we play here against Borussia. If you ask me, I prefer to be qualified.
"We are supposing that if we finish second we will have a bad draw, but maybe this year we can have a bad draw if we finish top of the group. There are a lot of things in the future we are not thinking about."
It won't be an easy task against the Foals who were thankful to Oscar Wendt, Lars Stindl and Fabian Johnson for their shock win against against a Bayern side who had won 13 and drawn one of their 14 previous league games this season.
Kompany, fellow defender Pablo Zabaleta, midfielders Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri and striker Sergio Aguero sat out Saturday's game and all five are likely to miss the Borussia tie, but Pellegrini can at least call upon playmaker David Silva, who made his first league start in nine weeks at Stoke following an ankle injury.
"We need to play now on Tuesday," Pellegrini said. "If we had the complete week to recover it might be easy but we must play again on Tuesday and are going to play with the same players that played in this game except Kelechi Iheanacho, who cannot play.
"Fernando has a problem with his hamstring so we will see how long he will be injured. We played very badly because we are playing with the same 12 or 13 players.
"It is difficult when don't have your whole squad and you have an average of six or seven players injured every game."
Gladbach can go into the Europa League if they match or better Sevilla's result against Juventus and have risen from bottom of the table to third under new coach Andre Schubert, with his only defeat coming against City in the reverse fixture in late September.
Opta Stats
City have only tasted defeat once from seven previous home matches against German opposition in European competition (W4 D2).
These teams have met three times previously, all three outcomes have come from those games (a win apiece and a draw).
Gladbach have failed to score in either away game this season in the Champions League (D1 L1).
City have not claimed a Champions League clean sheet at the Etihad Stadium since December 2011 (Bayern Munich), a run of 13 games.
None of City's 33 Champions League games has ended goalless. They have kept four clean sheets in these 33 games. Only Basel have played more games in the competition without ever registering a goalless draw (46).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
City have got the opportunity to finish top of the group and winning here should also be of serious importance as they need to get themselves back on track after the weekend, when they could have lost by four or five.
Everyone is talking about big injuries at Arsenal, United and City, but City are the ones that have qualified and deserve a big well done for it. However, you would have expected them to kick on from there.
Silva being back is obviously a positive but they miss Toure and Aguero, and I'm not sure Wilfried Bony is capable of taking advantage of the Spaniard's clever play. It's a big leadership thing and when you're missing players that's when they need Kompany. They can't grind out wins without him.
Saying all of that, I do see them edging this one with the pressure off and Borussia Monchengladbach are likely to make this an open game, with Kevin De Bruyne, who has been a big positive for them this season, scoring again.
Charlie predicts: 2-1 - with De Bruyne to score first (33/1 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Manchester City are 7/10 with Sky Bet to secure the win they need against Borussia Monchengladbach to secure top spot in Group A. City have lost three of their last five games in all competitions but are 13/2 to reach the final, while Monchengladbach need to win to secure a place in the Europa League.
The German outfit have yet to score away from home in this year's competition but warmed up for the trip to the Etihad with victory over Bayern Munich and are 100/30 to secure victory.
City haven't kept a clean sheet in their last ten matches at home and are 7/4 to win with both teams scoring. De Bruyne is 6/1 to open the scoring for City and 7/4 to net anytime. Check out the tips from pundits Jamie Redknapp, Charlie Nicholas, Matt Le Tissier and Phil Thompson here.
