Manchester City continue their Champions League campaign away at Monaco on Wednesday night, with the two clubs preparing for their first encounter since 2017.
A Monaco outfit spearheaded by Radamel Falcao in his majestic twilight, teenage sensation Kylian Mbappé and future City stalwart Bernardo Silva produced a dramatic comeback in that round of 16 tie, overcoming a 5–3 first leg deficit by winning 3–1 on home soil.
Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens were vulnerable then, and the Ligue 1 outfit have avoided facing his Man City team at their absolute best. It remains to be seen just how good his current iteration is, but they were in a ruthless mood at the weekend, putting five past Burnley in a 5–1 victory.
Their Champions League campaign started with a 2–0 win over the ten men of Napoli two weeks ago, while Monaco were thumped 4–1 by Club Brugge in Belgium.
Adi Hütter’s side are currently fourth in Ligue 1, having been beaten by Lorient last time out, and their continental campaign last term ended prematurely in the knockout playoff round after a promising start.
Here is Sports Illustrated’s guide to this Champions League clash.
What Time Does Monaco vs. Man City Kick Off?
- Location: Fontvieille, Monaco
- Stadium: Stade Louis-II
- Date: Wednesday, Oct. 1
- Kick-off Time: 8 p.m. BST / 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT
- Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
- VAR: César Soto Grado (ESP)
Monaco vs. Man City Head-to-Head Record (All Games)
- Monaco: 1 win
- Man City: 1 win
- Draws: 0
- Last meeting: Monaco 3–1 Man City (Mar. 15, 2017) - Champions League
Current Form (All Competitions)
How to Watch Monaco vs. Man City on TV, Live Stream
Monaco Team News
Paul Pogba made an emotional return to the game via Monaco in the summer, but he isn’t yet ready to make his first appearance for the club. There’s hope that the enigmatic French midfielder will make his bow after the international break.
Monaco are also without several key players for City’s visit, including highly rated midfielder Lamine Camara. Denis Zakaria, Aleksandr Golovin and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky are also out of action.
However, Barcelona loanee Ansu Fati is in fine form and may well be Monaco’s biggest attacking threat on Wednesday night. Former Arsenal strikers Folarin Balogun and Mika Biereth could lead the line together for the hosts.
Monaco Predicted Lineup vs. Man City
Monaco predicted lineup vs. Man City (4-4-2): Köhn; Vanderson, Dier, Kehrer, Henrique; Akliouche, Coulibaly, Teze, Fati; Balogun, Biereth.
Man City Team News
Rodri ruled himself out of contention for Saturday’s win over Burnley after feeling “pain in his knee,” according to Guardiola. However, the Spanish midfielder trained on Tuesday ahead of Man City’s flight to Monaco and will be considered by the manager.
Rayan Cherki was thought to have had a chance of making his comeback in midweek, but he hasn’t been included in City’s travelling squad.
Mateo Kovačić is back in action, but the visitors are still without Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Rayan Aït-Nouri.
Erling Haaland shook off a minor back problem to play 90 minutes at the weekend, and the striker will be in Guardiola’s XI on Wednesday night.
Man City Predicted Lineup vs. Monaco
Man City predicted lineup vs. Monaco (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Nico; Bobb, Bernardo, Foden, Doku; Haaland.
Monaco vs. Man City Score Prediction
It’s been a bright enough start to the season for both teams, but the pair head into this fixture in contrasting moods. While City eventually wore Burnley down in their eventual rout, Monaco were beaten by Lorient after Thilo Kehrer saw red in the first half.
Hütter-led teams are typically energetic, dynamic and vertical. Despite their injuries, Monaco have the players which fit the manager’s framework, and scoring goals has rarely been an issue for them at the start of the new season.
However, City are facing up against a leaky backline on Wednesday, and the absence of the combative Camara and leader Zakaria could be significant. The visitors are poised to dominate the midfield battle, and establish a footing from which they can assert control. Thus, Guardiola’s side are well poised to leave Monaco with all three points here.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Monaco vs. Man City: Preview, Predictions and Lineups.
