Manchester City has been romping through both the Champions League and the English Premier League; they have lost just once in the latter competition. However, that loss came against Liverpool, whose attacking players can make life miserable for anyone in Europe. The two English teams will kick off their quarterfinal tie at Liverpool on April 4th.
What To Know About Manchester City
Manchester City opened the scoring through Gabriel Jesus in the seventh minute, but they fell 2-1 at home to Basel, although a 4-0 win away from home in the first leg basically ended this tie. Even though it was a loss, they managed to rest Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero among others and Jesus returned to the lineup with a goal, so that is encouraging. Aguero and Raheem Sterling are tied for the team lead in goals in the Champions League with four each, while Jesus and defender John Stones have three goals apiece. However, the key for Manchester City is De Bruyne, who has a goal and four assists and with his eye for a pass, he can open up any defense in the blink of an eye. Manchester City still has some issues defensively, however, and Liverpool showed that when they beat them in January.
What To Know About Liverpool
Liverpool drew 0-0 at home with Porto in their second leg, but they won 5-0 away and like Manchester City, they were essentially through to the quarterfinal before a ball was kicked. Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah all played less than 90 minutes, so that was a positive. Firmino has seven goals to lead the way, while Salah and Mane both have six each and when these three are on, they can tear through an opposing defense as they showed in their 4-3 win at home over Manchester City in January. All three got on the scoresheet in that game and with Manchester City’s defensive problems, that could happen again. However, Liverpool’s defense is probably worse than Manchester City and getting into another shootout might not be in their best interest.
Outlook
Manchester City are slight favorites on the road at 2.30, while Liverpool are listed at 3.00 and a draw comes in at 3.40. They have played twice already this season with Manchester City destroying Liverpool 5-0 at home, but then Liverpool bounced back in the aforementioned 4-3 win. You wonder if this will be a cagey-style European matchup, or if the two teams will play like they’re in the English Premier League with a lot of pace and counterattacks. If they go with the latter, this could be the most exciting tie of the quarterfinal. Liverpool can score on Manchester City, but can they stop them from scoring? Manchester City might get an away goal or two, and that would make the second leg very tough for Liverpool, who has to tighten up on the defensive end of the pitch.
Champions League Betting Pick: Manchester City
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