IT’S a must win for Man City in this Wednesday Champions League clash. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) takes a look at whether they can take all three points.
Man City v CSKA Moscow | Wednesday 19:45 | Sky Sports 5
The usual bout of naval-gazing took place when Manchester City surrendered a two goal lead in their previous encounter with CSKA two weeks ago in Moscow. “Why are so City so poor in Europe?”, “With these players they should be cruising through to the knockout stages!” they shouted. While I buy that there are issues with the Citizens record in Europe, they have been handed some wicked draws every year they’ve been in the competition. Would Chelsea cruise through this group? I very much doubt it.
This game on Wednesday is truly a must-win match for Manuel Pellegrini’s side and I’ve no doubt they’ll achieve that. Their confidence looked rattled on Sunday when they beat the ten men of Manchester United 1-0, and it’s no wonder after successive defeats to West Ham and Newcastle.
I think this is the perfect match for them to get back on track though, and I can see them banging in a few goals along the way. City smashed five past this bunch last season at the Etihad, and also scored seven past Viktoria Plzen over their two game Champions League series in 2013/14. And remember it’s only 18 days since they beat Spurs 4-1.
CSKA Moscow are a poor side away from home. They lost all three of their away group games last season, conceding ten goals along the way. Their only away game this season was a 5-1 pounding at the hands of Roma. City can cruise this.
I’m going fishing for a big win here, so I’m backing City to score Over 3.5 Goals here at 11/4 with Coral. I expect them to get rid of all their frustration and angst on a weak CSKA Moscow side.
TOPICS European Football FootballBest Bet
Man City v CSKA Moscow – Man City to score Over 3.5 Goals (11/4 Coral)
