What to Watch For: Manchester City Head to Gladbach in UCL
By Larry Henry
Manchester City got back to winning ways in the EPL on Saturday with a 2-1 road win at Crystal Palace. Yaya Toure netted twice in his first league match since April to earn the Citizens three points.
After an important league win to stay near the top of the table, Manchester City now turn their attentions to MatchDay #5 of the UEFA Champions League. Tuesday they face off against German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach away from home.
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In the first meeting between these two sides on MatchDay #1, City cruised to a 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium. A Sergio Aguero hat-trick and a late goal by Kelechi Iheanacho was all City needed to earn the win.
Coming into this match, Manchester City know a victory will see them advance to the Round of 16, while Gladbach can tie City on points with a win themselves. They drew 1-1 against Celtic on MatchDay #4.
Three players that Manchester City must be prepared for are Thorgan Hazard, Andre Hahn, and Lars Stindl. Hazard has netted four goals and three assists in the Champions League so far, while Hahn and Stindl have netted two apiece. American wingback Fabian Johnson is also a deadly threat from free-kicks and down the flanks.
With a huge European contest approaching, here are my three things to watch.
1.) Look for MCFC to attack early to go ahead.
This should be a win for Pep Guardiola‘s side against a team that is struggling in league-play. Gladbach have not won in the league since September 24th but have picked up the slack in the UCL. Yaya Toure is not available for MCFC’s Champions League squad which means either Ilkay Gundogan or David Silva will come into the midfield from the weekend’s match. Manchester City need to show their dominance and put the match out of reach early to advance. They cannot afford to drop points here and have to rely on beating Celtic at home the final match. The good teams find a way to win when they need it most, and Manchester City need to show that.
2.) Look for John Stones to come in for injured Kompany.
Vincent Kompany suffered a concussion on Saturday but did not travel with the team due to a knee injury, according to BBC Sport. Due to the injury, John Stones is the common replacement into the back-line to partner with Nicolas Otamendi. These two have formed a nice partnership so far and will need to be at their best to stop a tough attacking trio. Gladbach have the ability to score goals for fun but Manchester City will need to absorb that pressure and use it on the counter-attack. At times, look for Stones to advance the ball forward while Otamendi stays back in defense.
3.) Sergio Aguero will be the focal point.
The Argentine netted a hat-trick against Gladbach in the reverse fixture and should be rearing to go for tomorrow. He netted once against the Germans in last year’s competition as well and came close to scoring at the weekend too. Aguero is a pesty attacker and should be able to get after a Gladbach back-line that looked confused and without confidence in the first meeting back in September.
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My prediction is a 3-1 road win for the Citizens. Aguero will score twice, while David Silva chips in a third goal. Most importantly, the win will send City into the knockout stage for the fourth consecutive season.