This Wednesday’s Group G matchup at the Etihad Stadium features two undefeated teams looking to keep their Champions League streaks alive: Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.
Both Pep Guardiola’s team and BVB cruised to victories on the first day of the season, with City beating Sevilla 4-0 and BVB beating Copenhagen 3-0.
Match Preview: Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
Although doubts about Erling Braut Haaland’s ability to score goals in the Premier League were dispelled once he arrived at the Etihad Stadium, his reputation for stellar play in the Champions League was already well-established.
Haaland has every reason to wreak revenge on his former team, after the 22-year-old scored twice in the 4-0 victory against Sevilla at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, bringing his European total to 25 goals in 20 Champions League appearances.
Phil Foden and Ruben Dias also contributed to the scoring. Since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, the Premier League’s European-contending clubs have had a week off, including Pep Guardiola’s squad.
This has prevented the reigning Premier League winners from gaining ground on Arsenal in the standings. However, Guardiola will be in charge of his 150th Champions League game this week.
The city is now 7-0-1 in all competitions with 17 goals scored over their four home games. Dortmund travels to England on the heels of a heartbreaking away-day loss.
While the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager continues his agonizing wait for a European honor with the Citizens. However, the hosts now have a chance to extend their undefeated home record to 21 Champions League games this week.
After losing 4-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk, RB Leipzig sacked Domenico Tedesco and recruited Marco Rose. Rose coached a 3-0 Bundesliga triumph against his previous team.
Willi Orban, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Amadou Haidara scored for Die Roten Bullen in their Champions League debut against Copenhagen.
After three wins and clean sheets, Dortmund fell at Red Bull Arena. Last week, Giovanni Reyna was more effective than Champions League star Haaland.
Jude Bellingham and Raphael Guerreiro scored after the 19-year-old replaced Thorgan Hazard. He’ll aim to help Dortmund avoid a third consecutive Champions League away loss.
The Bundesliga squad hasn’t drawn away in the Champions League since October 2017 (seven wins, 10 defeats). They fell 4-2 on aggregate to Man City in the 2020-21 quarterfinals.
Team News: Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund
Kyle Walker and John Stones missed Man City’s victory against Sevilla due to injury; Stones will return for this game, but Walker is out.
Aymeric Laporte will miss out, thus Manuel Akanji and Sergio Gomez will face their old team.
Guardiola has little need to change a winning formula without a weekend fixture, but Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez will try to replace Jack Grealish.
Hazard only lasted 23 minutes against Copenhagen before leaving with a thigh injury, but he made the traveling squad.
Hazard, Reyna, Marius Wolf, Sebastien Haller, Mahmoud Dahoud, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, and Mateu Morey are all out for Dortmund.
Donyell Malen (thigh) and Karim Adeyemi (foot) haven’t been ruled out of this game, but they have minimal odds of starting, thus Anthony Modeste should lead the attack again.
- Possible City Lineup: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Akanji, Gomez, Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne, Foden, Haaland, Grealish.
- Possible Dortmund Lineup: Meyer, Meunier, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro, Ozcan, Bellingham, Brandt, Reus, Reyna, Modeste.
Our Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund will almost certainly suffer a second consecutive loss on the road against the well-rested Premier League champions since they will be without their starting goalie as well as a large number of other players who are capable of possibly making a difference.
Terzic’s team will likely head back to Germany pondering on their first Champions League defeat of the season, while Haaland and company are showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. The bond between the two clubs off the field is as strong as it has ever been.
