EUROPE: Champions League

Date: 24-11-21

Time: 21:00 PM

Venue: Etihad Stadium (Manchester)

Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are close to reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League (UCL), nicely setting up this heavyweight Group A clash at the Etihad Stadium between two of the competition’s favourites. Depending on the Club Brugge-RB Leipzig result, both could qualify here but bragging rights are at stake as this rivalry between two of Europe’s richest clubs develops.

A win for the ‘Cityzens’ would guarantee finishing on top of the group and they’ll be smarting following their 2-0 defeat in Paris in September – their first ever H2H loss (W3, D2). Returning consecutive league wins ‘to nil’ over Manchester United and Everton, those clean sheets will have pleased manager Pep Guardiola as his side has conceded seven times in four UCL matches (W3, L1) this term – compared with just two in 13 last season!

After an unbeaten start to the group stages, PSG (W2, D2) need only to match Brugge’s result to seal their place in the knockouts. They’re already 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, meaning they can focus everything on pushing for victory here as they try to extend a seven-match unbeaten streak (W5, D2), a sequence that produced an average of 3.43 goals per game.

However, Mauricio Pochettino’s men haven’t won a UCL away game in three attempts (D2, L1), a run that started with last season’s 2-0 semi-final defeat here. The Argentine, who is reportedly a candidate to take over the vacant Manchester United post, hasn’t won a H2H at this venue since February 2016 either (D2, L4).

Players to watch: Bernardo Silva completed the scoring in each of Man City’s last two matches, while PSG’s Lionel Messi has scored three UCL goals this term, all of them arriving between the 65th and 75th minute including one against City in September.

Recent Stats:

  • Manchester City’s form in last 5 matches: WWWLD.
  • Paris SG’s form in last 5 matches: WWDWD

PREDICTION: Home/Draw and BTTS