Five Talking Points Ahead of Manchester City's Champions League First-Leg

Dynamo Kiev V Man City - Expert analysis and predictions

Form

Three weeks ago Manchester City sat in prime position to re-claim the Premier League only for the wheels to come off and City to lose twice at home to two massive title rivals. A 3-1 loss to Leicester was made ten times worse with a 2-1 home loss to high flying Spurs. It’s not like Leicester got lucky against Pellegrini’s side, they completely dominated the game and outplayed a lacklusture City side. Totenham rode their luck at times and were awarded a fortunate penalty when the ball struck the top of Raheem Sterling’s arm. Even the returning Vincent Kompany couldn’t stop City slumping to another defeat. A weakened City side were smashed by inform Chelsea at the weekend to add to their poor run. It would yet prove as a good decision by Pellegrini to field a second string side, as it gives his main players a welcomed rest. They will travel to Kiev to take on a side who haven’t played a competitive since the the start of December due to the winter break in Ukraine. David Silva and company will fancy their chances to get a result as they hope to take advantage of a side lacking in game time and with Aguero, Kompany, Silva and Toure been give an essential rest, it might give City a needed boost.

Key Players

For Manchester City, Sergio Aguero has been their main man for the past few seasons. The big man for the big occasions, he has never hidden on the big nights for City. His hat-trick against Bayern Munich last season was just incredible. He will be the focal point of City’s attack and with the creative force of David Silva and Yaya Toure behind him he will have plenty of quality service throughout the game in Kiev. Vincent Kompany is a massive boast of the Manchester side. The stats show that City do much better with him than without him. Pellegrini’s side have averaged 2.5 points when the captain has played and only 1.5 when he hasn’t.

Exploiting Weaknesses

Manchester City will hope to take advantage of Dynamo Kiev’s lack of game time and set the tone early on in the game. If they can get Sterling and Silva on the ball early and stretch this Kiev defence, Aguero could be given the space which he excels in. The Ukrainian league is not one of Europe’s top league’s meaning the standard of football fails in comparison to other top leagues. Dynamo would not have come up against the quality of City on their domestic travels and meeting a side with the players such as Toure and Aguero will be a massive shock to the system.

Home Performance/Key Stats

Manchester City will travel to Ukraine to take on Dynamo Kiev, but will face a hostile atmosphere at the stadium. The Kiev fans are known for massive vocal support and for getting right behind their players. Their home, the NSC Olimpiyskiy stadium will be full to the rafters as they are sure to reach capacity of over 70,000 fans. It is not going to be easy for the City players. It can be a very intimidating atmosphere. City will be looking to get an early goal to quiet their fanatic supporters. Kiev be no push overs as they have currently gone eleven games without defeat at home, which included two draws in the Champions League against the big guns of Porto and Chelsea. Pellegrini’s men will have to be at their best to come away with a result.

Recommended Bets

• City to win 2-1 –
• City to score in both halves –
• City to score a penalty –

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