Football ManCity120@ZAPunter provides his betting tips for the Uefa Champions League clash between Shakhtar and Manchester City which takes place on Wednesday 18th September

 

 

 

 

SHAKHTAR VS MANCHESTER CITY, WEDNESDAY @21:00

 

Man City start their latest attempt at Champions League glory when making the trip to Ukraine to play against Shakhtar. This trip won’t be anything new for Man City, as they played this fixture for the last two years. Pep will demand a big performance from his players after a shocking defeat against Norwich this weekend. Shakhtar remains unbeaten in their domestic league, with a high score 4-3 home win last weekend. Everyone knows that Manchester City’s focus this season will be winning the Champions League at all cost, the owners have wanted it for a very long time and Pep compares his success at a club to the Champions League trophy. Shakhtar was the most dominant team out of Ukraine for the last couple of years, especially having the financial resources to recruit Brazilian talent, they always seem to lose their key players to big clubs and just replace them with another quality South American (mostly Brazilian) players.

 

SHAKHTAR:

During the off-season Shakhtar lost their manager Paulo Fonseca to Roma and replaced him with Portuguese counterpart Luis Castro. He started out his new job, losing against big rivals Dynamo Kiev in the Ukrainian Super Cup, but since then they have been undefeated in the league. It looks like the Ukrainian giants are still finding their feet under new management and are conceding a lot of goals against below par opposition. They will need to attack Man City if they have any chance of getting a result. I expect Castro won’t sacrifice any of his attacking midfield and we should see Marlos, Taison and Konoplyanka all play.

 

MANCHESTER CITY:

Even though Pep said he was happy with his players performance vs Norwich, the defence was all over the place. Surely they were looking ahead to kick-off their Champions League campaign and fell victim to a motivated Canaries team. One thing Manchester City always seems to have is the ability to score goals and get results when they need it most. This is arguably their toughest game in the group stage and Pep will demand a good performance. Travelling might be the only concern for Man City, but they should be fired up and deliver a bounce back performance. The Citizens will be without John Stones for at least 5 weeks, but Pep will surely move De Bruyne back into the starting 11.

 

PROBABLE LINE-UPS:

Shakhtar: 4-2-3-1

Pyatov,

Bolbat, Krivtsov, Matviyenko, Ismaily,

Stepanenko, Alan,

Konoplyanka, Marlos, Taison,

Moraes.

 

Man City: 4-3-3

Ederson,

Cancelo, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Zinchenko,

Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva,

Silva, Aguero, Sterling.

 

PREDICTION:

This is Manchester City’s year to win the Champions League and Pep will be hoping for a statement win. The players will be fired up for the first whistle to the last and I think Man City will make light work of an Shakhtar team that are still looking for an identity under new management. I won’t be surprised if City concedes so I won’t be looking towards the handicap, give me team goals at plus money. I would be very surprised if they don’t score 3+ goals tonight and Shakhtar only plays on the front foot in Ukraine and I doubt it will change tonight. Shakhtar will know this won’t be the match that decided their fate and should play with freedom, creating opportunities for Man City on the counter. Let’s go goals!

 

BETTING:

Man City Team Total Over 2.5 – 2.11 @ BetOlimp

 

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

@ZAPunter