Manchester City vs Lyon Prediction & Betting Tips - Champions League

Prediction published on 12/08/2020, 08:13  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 13/08/2020 at 09:02 in Champions League Predictions

50 years ago, Manchester City won the European Cup Winners Cup, could half a century later they win the Champions League. They take on Lyon in the quarter finals, looking to reach the last four of this competition for only the second time. Not since 2016 have they made it to the last four but they will fancy their chances of doing so when taking on Lyon on Saturday. That will set up a far tougher assignment against either Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semi-final. City reached the quarter finals with a 4-2 aggregate win over Real Madrid. Last weekend saw them beat Madrid at home 2-1 making it six wins from their last seven fixtures. 23 goals have been scored in those matches with the only loss being their FA Cup semi-final defeat by Arsenal. City have already won the Community Shield and EFL Cup this season but it's the Champions League they yearn to win. They are in top form and have won seven of their last nine Champions League games, the other two being drawn. Only Tottenham have been able to beat them in their last 17 games in this competition. Away form has often been a problem for them in Europe but they have only one loss in their last nine played away from the Etihad. In fact, the last time they lost away to a side that doesn't play in the English Premier League was in December 2017 when playing a much weakened side at Shakhtar Donetsk, having already qualified for the knock-out stages. City are a team that just can't stop scoring goals, that is the main reason why their progression to the semi-finals looks more than likely.

Lyon won't be scared of taking on City though. The two sides met in the group stages of last season's competition and Lyon earned four points from their two meetings. They won at City and drew with them at home. Could they be City's bogey team? Lyon caused a shock in the last sixteen when knocking out Juventus. They won the home leg 1-0 and lost 2-1 in Italy last weekend but went through on away goals. This might be their last game in European competition for a while. The early end to the Ligue 1 season saw them finish in seventh place and not even qualifying for the Europa League. They would have qualified if beating PSG in the recent French League Cup final but they lost out on penalties. The game against Juventus was only their second competititve fixture since March. Their last four competitive games have seen them beaten in each match but here they are in the last eight of the Champions League. A win here will be their first in a league and cup game since March 1 but it's hard to see them getting it. Eight Champions League games have been played this season and only three have been won, two at home. Only one of their last seven Champions League games played outside of France has been won. The last three have all been lost and City can make that four, leading at both half and full time.