City look to bounce back against Roma

Following defeat in their opening Champions League match of the season to German champions Bayern Munich, Manchester City will be looking to kick-start their European campaign at home to Italian team AS Roma.

Roma come in to the match full of confidence and with 3 points already on the board having defeated Russian club CSKA Moscow 5-1 in their opening group game. The Roman`s are also in good form in their domestic league, winning all five matches that have been played so far and sitting second in the table to Juventus on goal difference. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has to decide whether to keep Willy Caballero in goal or revert back to England goalkeeper Joe Hart and also has a decision to make in defence, with big summer signing Eliaquim Mangala putting in a poor performance against Hull City on the weekend. Rudi Garcia still has major injury concerns with Daniele De Rossi and Kevin Strootman among the key players missing.

Despite having only won two of their last seven home Champions League games, Manchester City can not afford to drop more points at home and go in to the game as favourites, with william hill offering 7/10 for fans to witness a home win at the Etihad Stadium. With goals flowing freely in their last two Premier League games, Pellegrini will want to see more of the same here and BetVictor offer 17/10 that there will be over 3.5 goals in the match. In form Edin Dzeko, who scored twice against Hull City on Saturday, can be backed at 11/2 with paddypower to open the scoring against Roma, with former Chelsea star Frank Lampard on offer at 8/1. Argentine international Sergio Aguero is sure to be a constant threat to the Roma defence and he is available at 11/10 with BetVictor to score at any time during the game.

However, as mentioned previously, Manchester City`s home form in the Champions League has not been good and Roma arrive in the North of England full of confidence following an unbeaten start in Serie A and the big win against CSKA Moscow on game day one. Despite this, the Italian`s have been made clear outsiders with the bookmakers and can be found at 9/2 with betfred to leave the Etihad with a win. Given Manchester City`s need for victory, a draw may be the more tempting bet and bet365 have odds of 16/5 for the spoils to be shared.

Although Manchester City have been scoring plenty of goals in the lead up to the game, Roma have been miserly in defence, only conceding two goals in their opening six games and are 10/1 with SkyBet to win the match without conceding a goal. To be able to win the game, Roma will be looking towards to talismanic striker Francesco Totti, who is 9/1 with ladbrokes to get the first goal in the game and if he can do this, Roma`s defence will be striving to keep out the Manchester City strikers to seal a famous win. A further threat to the home team`s defence will be former Arsenal forward Gervinho, who`s direct running and pace could cause problems for a stuttering City back line. The Ivorian is available at 10/1 with ladbrokes to open the scoring and 7/2 to find the back of the net at any time during the match.

This game really is a must win for Manchester City, with CSKA Moscow already looking like the whipping boys of the group, it`s between City, Roma and Bayern Munich for the top two spots and qualification to the knock-out stages. Pellegrini`s side will be pushing for an early goal to settle their nerves but expect Roma to also provide a threat going forward, a 3-1 win to the home side is therefore a distinct possibility and can be backed at 12/1 with BetVictor.

Manchester City are currently 14/1 to win the Champions League, with Roma being offered at 66/1, both with SkyBet.

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29/09/2014     © Frixo 2024