Man City v FC Copenhagen- Preview, Predictions, and Best Bets

Man City host FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. Pep Guardiola’s side hold a 3-1 advantage from the first leg in Denmark and have won 15 of their last 16 matches. The visitors have lost three of their last six matches.

Man City Form

City are flying right now with 15 wins in 16 matches and one draw. They won the first leg 3-1 as they only allowed one shot on target and one shot of any kind in the second half in Denmark. The only game where they didn’t win was a 1-1 home draw against Chelsea where they had 31 shots.

City have played four subsequent matches with four wins. They beat Brentford 1-0 at home with 25 shots and then won 1-0 at Bournemouth. They have returned to their prescoring ways since then, thrashing Luton 6-2 in the FA Cup and beating Man Utd 3-1 on Sunday with 27 shots and 3.33 xG produced and only three shots allowed.

Man City Team News

City are without Jack Grealish due to a groin problem. The rest of the squad is fit now that Josko Gvardiol has returned from an ankle injury.

Guardiola may use this match to rest some players. Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic, and Manuel Akanji should all start with Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones likely to be rested. Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis are two others who may be handed an opportunity here.

Man City Motivation

This tie feels almost over already. An early City goal and they can begin to conserve energy for the league and FA Cup.

Guardiola will want to win and keep a clean sheet if possible. His starting XI will indicate how open he believes this tie still is.

FC Copenhagen Form

FC Copenhagen recently resumed the Danish Superliga after a three-month break. After losing 3-1 to City in the first leg, then won 3-0 at Silkeborg in the league. A 2-0 home win over Nordsjaelland followed but they lost 2-0 at Midtjylland on Friday.

Before their first-leg defeat, they had been playing in the Atlantic Cup against other Scandinavian clubs. They beat Elsborg 5-4 and lost 2-1 to Brondby. Their final match saw a 3-1 win over Molde. All three matches were played in Portugal.

FC Copenhagen Team News

There are five injuries for coach Jacob Neestrup to deal with. Young goalkeeper Theo Sander is doubtful, but he wouldn’t have started anyway. Emil Hojlund, brother of Man Utd’s Rasmus, has not played in three months and remains a doubt.

Experienced central defender Davit Khocholava has not played since late October and remains a doubt. Attacking midfielder Viktor Claesson was injured on Friday and is a serious doubt to feature vs City. Fellow midfielder Lukas Lerager is ruled out for this one.

FC Copenhagen Motivation

The chances of a comeback are remote. The Danish giants may be happy to avoid conceding several goals and being humiliated in this one.

Expect quite a defensive approach and try to get through the first 20 minutes unscathed.

Key Stats

Man City have won 15 of their last 16 matches

City’s Erling Haaland has scored 9 goals in his last 7 matches

FC Copenhagen won 2 of their Group Stage matches (2 losses) with 8 goals scored

FC Copenhagen have lost 3 of their last 6 matches

FC Copenhagen had just one shot on target in the first leg

Verdict

There is only one winner in this match, it’s just the margin which is debatable. The goalscorer market represents good value but it may be worth checking the City starting XI first. The handicap market is another option.

Best Bet: Man City win (-2 goal handicap) at 2.00
Value Bet: Man City win (-3 goals handicap) at 3.30
Goalscorer Tip: Erling Haaland 2 or more goals at 3.00 or Alvarez first goalscorer at 4.50

James O'Connor

James is a football analyst who writes about the tactics of the PSL and English Premier League. He holds the UEFA A coaching licence and has previously worked for several clubs in analysis roles.Twitter: https://twitter.com/footy_analysis