Champions League: Sky Blues To Finish Group C With Another Victory

Champions League: Sky Blues To Finish Group C With Another Victory

Manchester City vs Marseille

Manchester City welcome Olympique Marseille to the Etihad on Wednesday night as the curtain falls on Group C with the two teams at opposite ends of the table. The Sky Blues lead on 13 points while Les Olympiens prop up the group on three.

This game, Champions League: Manchester City vs Marseille, isn’t quite a dead rubber as the French side can still qualify for the Europa League, while Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are already assured of top spot. And with the Sky Blues beginning to gather some momentum in the Premier League following a slow start, Guardiola will be keen to finish Group C with a win and, at the very least, remain unbeaten.

Talking Points

Pep can shuffle his pack

With ten games of the new Premier League season now done and dusted Manchester City are starting to look like their old selves again after a stuttering start. Since losing 2-0 to Jose Mourinho’s Spurs, in November, the Sky Blues have confirmed their top place in Group C of the Champions League as well as completing back to back wins in the league, registering four clean sheets in the process. As well as keeping it tight at the back, City have been in scintillating form going forward, beating Burnley 5-0, three days after the ever improving Phil Foden was on target as Manchester City beat Olympiacos to qualify for the Champions League Round of 16.

After playing out a goalless draw with Porto, the Sky Blues eased past Fulham on Saturday, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne. Sterling won his 20^th Premier League penalty, a new top flight record, to hand de Bruyne his goal.

Pep can rest some key players for this game, de Bruyne will probably take a break and Sergio Aguero, recently returned from injury, is unlikely to be risked. We could see Kyle Walker make a comeback, while Eric Garcia and Nathan Ake are also in line to start in City’s defensive line-up, and winger Ferran Torres will hope to add to his tournament three goals.

The Manchester City vs Marseille betting odds here at SBOTOP predict another win for the Sky Blues, though it is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Marseille aiming for Europa

Back to back defeats to Porto in November put an end to any hopes Marseille had of progressing to the Round of 16 of the Champions League, but their first campaign since 2014 could end with a slot in the Europa League if they can better Olympiacos’ result against Porto on Wednesday night.

Andre Villas Boas’ team finally got off the mark with a 2-1 victory over the Greek Super League side last week, thanks to a brace of penalties converted by former West Ham star Dimitri Payet.

Les Olympiens are also on a five-match winning streak in Ligue 1, so will arrive in Manchester full of confidence. Goals from Dario Benedetto and Valere Germain gave them a 2-0 win over Nimes to continue a march up the table. Marseille sit very handily in fourth place in Ligue 1, four points behind leaders PSG but with two games in hand.

One player to watch is 27 year old striker Florian Thauvin who has won ten international caps since his debut for Les Bleus in 2018. He has also scored 41 goals in 76 games in his latest stint at Marseille, the club he made his name at in 2013. A foray in the Premier League with Newcastle United turned sour when he was criticised by former Magpies striker Alan Shearer for wearing a tuxedo on his arrival to a match. Feeling unwanted he returned to Marseille and hasn’t looked back.

History

Manchester City are aiming to secure their first Champions League trophy this year, having inched closer in recent seasons, but Marseille already have one European title to their name, winning the European Cup (forerunner to the Champions League) in 1993.

The Sky Blues had a comfortable win in Marseille; Torres, Ilkay Gundogan and Sterling scoring in a 3-0 result, and we should see a good contest on Wednesday as the French look for revenge.

Betting Tip

Manchester City First Half Asian Handicap -0.50 @ 1.92

We’ll be back with the Manchester City vs Marseille highlights on Wednesday night when we expect to be reporting on a home win, with the hosts at short odds of 1.38, the draw at 4.45 and Marseilles at 7.14.

Les Olympiens will carry a threat, but City have quality in depth and after going two up very quickly against Fulham on Saturday, they looked just like the winning machine we have seen so often in recent seasons.

I expect the Sky Blues to stretch the Marseille defence from the first whistle and, for an alternative bet; a first half correct score of 1-0 is at odds of 2.59.

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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