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Manchester City will be looking to build on solid foundations later this week, as the Blues return to action, facing FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday evening.
Pep Guardiola’s side were 6-3 winners in Sunday’s thoroughly entertaining Manchester derby, with both Erling Haaland and Phil Foden netting hat-tricks over their own. John Stones is still expected to miss the clash, but there were positive signs as Aymeric Laporte returned to the side to make his first appearance.
By comparison, City‘s opponents will also be buoyed following their victory at the weekend. The Danish side beat AGF by just a single goal in the Superliga, Lukas Lerager with the strike nine minutes from time.
Having endured a difficult run as of late, Jacob Neestrup’s side have only won two of their last seven fixtures in all competitions and are currently third in Group G as it stands. Having drew 0-0 with Sevilla in their last European outing, tests are likely to come much harder than the one City pose later this week.
According to the latest FiveThirtyEight predictions, Guardiola’s side have a 90 per cent chance of emerging victorious against Copenhagen, with just a 9pc chance given that the game will finish in a draw. The forecast and Soccer Power Index (SPI) metric concludes that the Blues have just a 1pc chance of losing on Wednesday evening at the Etihad.
With the odds banked against the reigning Danish champions, anything can of course happen, but most see it unlikely that Guardiola’s side won’t emerge victorious, with heavy rotation also expected along the way.