Manchester City vs Celtic
UEFA Champions League – Group C
Date: Tuesday, 6th December 2016.
Kick-off at 19:45 UK.
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester.
Celtic travel to Man City on Tuesday night in a Group C dead rubber.
Celtic will finish bottom of the group regardless of Tuesday’s result and will be playing purely for pride.
Likewise, Man City are gaurtunteed a second-place finish and are therefore likely to rotate heavily.
The two teams had contrasting fortunes on the weekend. Celtic scored a last-minute winner to win 4-3 at Motherwell, while Pep Guardiola’s Man City were beaten 3-1 at home by Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Boost on City
Brendan Rodgers’ side managed an impressive 3-3 draw when the sides met in the second group match in September, with Moussa Dembele bagging a brace.
On-loan midfielder Patrick Roberts is eligible to face his parent club. The 19-year-old came off the bench in the reverse fixture.
Roberts isn’t the only Celtic player with a Man City connection. Kolo Toure, Scott Sinclair and Dedryck Boyata all used to play for the club.
TEAM NEWS
Man City: Vincent Kompany is injured, Yaya Touré is not in the squad, Fernandinho is suspended. These are the only problems Pep Guardiola has to deal with on Wednesday. Sergio Agüero will probably play his last match in the year 2016, either as a starter or as a substitute. Kun will be missed, but he was too stupid against Chelsea and a month out may help him.
Guardiola made it clear in his press conference that he will rotate the squad, and even Willy Caballero is expected to start. Youngsters Pablo Maffeo, Tosin Adarabioyo and Angeliño Tasende might get some valuable playing time, and along with Kelechi Iheanacho, they could give us a glimpse into the future. That's fun.
Celtic: Former City player Scott Sinclair misses out through injury, and that's all the problems for Brendan Rodgers. City loanee Patrick Roberts is expected to start on Tuesday night, and he may impress Guardiola and the Etihad crowd. Other than that, Celtic have shown very good things in the group stage, especially at home, and the way they played in the 3-3 draw against City was proof of how good they are in their best day. They need Celtic Park to be good, though, and they won't be at Celtic Park for this one.
Manchester City vs Celtic: Head-to-Head Stats
The 3-3 thriller on matchday 2 at Glasgow is the lone competitive meeting between Manchester City and Celtic. Raheem Sterling scored on both end, first an own goal and later the equalizer within 7 minutes. Moussa Dembele scored the other two goals for Celtic, while Nolito and Fernandinho found the back of the net for City.
The only other official meeting between the two sides is a friendly at Manchester on 2009 which was won by City by a 2-1 margin. Manchester City haven’t played against any other Scottish sides in a UEFA competition.
While Celtic have played against English Premier League sides on 19 occasions and they hold a moderate record of 7 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. They also managed 3 wins and 2 draws from their 9 trips to England, losing 4 times.
Manchester City vs Celtic: Prediction
Manchester City will be keen to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea on the weekend, while also keen to maintain their unbeaten record at home in this season’s Champions League. Pep Gaurdiola’ side has been off-colour lately, but they do have a chance to gain some confidence from this fixture with a win as Celtic are one of the worst away sides in the Champions League. No surprises are expected here as in the first leg at Glasgow, City to win is a straight pick for this fixture.
Manchester City vs Celtic: Bet Tips
Over 1.5 goals in first half at 1/1 (2.00).
Both Teams to Score and Man City to win at 11/8 (2.37).
