Manchester City v Shaktar Donetsk Preview

Given the rancid press coverage of Manchester City and Financial Fair Play, and especially the role of UEFA, it seems peculiar we are now previewing the next game in the UEFA Premium Competition.

One of the things about being Champions is football games come thick and fast as they are squeezed into the football calendar which is itself shrunken by the increasing number of strange international football breaks. The next one of which seems to be some kind of testimonial for Wayne Rooney. Hopefully all of our eligible players will fake injury after the derby game to avoid the indignity of gaining an International cap for such a pointless game.

Before that break Manchester City have 2 remaining games and in many ways they are both linked. I suspect Pep Guardiola, our master tactician, will be exploring a complex set of algorithms and deciding exactly which players will appear in which game, and in which position.

What we know is Guardiola has a squad of excellent players to choose from. There would appear to be 3 notable absences through injury for the Shaktar Donetsk match – Ilkay Gundogan who has missed 7 games with a hamstring problem, Claudio Bravo who is out for the season and Kevin De Bruyne who is not expected to return until early December.

More from Champions League

• My Manchester City UCL Group Stage predictions
• Manchester City’s Submitted UCL Squad Confirmed
• Man City’s 23/24 UCL group decided
• UCL Draw : Who are Man City’s possible opponents?
• Manchester City’s busy transfer week rounded-up

Shaktar will welcome back their two Brazilian players who missed the first leg match -Taison and Dentinho; This will add some dynamism to Paulo Fonseca’s side who will be looking to achieve a result against Manchester City to stand any realistic chance of progressing beyond the group phase of the Champions League. As it stands they have 2 draws and a defeat in their opening 3 games.

Shaktar though are on a good run of domestic league form having won 5 of their last 6 matches, their only defeat coming against Manchester City. City though are also on a scintillating run of form having won all 6 of their last 6 games in all competitions.

Last season a strong Shaktar side gave Manchester City a good game at the Etihad before eventually losing by 2 goals. They were sharp on the break, quick and inventive and caused Manchester City a number of problems. This year Shaktar will go all out for a win so this will be an entertaining game. Remember they hurtled to a 2:0 lead away to Lyon earlier in the season before Lyon fought back to a draw.

Manchester City should win this tie, but I expect it to be a pulsating clash of attacking styles. City will need to avoid self inflicted careless mistakes as Shaktar are much better than Southampton. As its a UEFA game, the referee may also play a pivotal role in the outcome. The hope therefore is that City will race to an early unassailable lead.

The reaction of the Manchester City fans to the UEFA anthem will be interesting. Will this be the game the booing stops and the cheering starts? All in all I expect a strong Manchester City side will feature, but there will be some rotation and rest for key players with the game against Manchester United on Sunday on all of our minds.

ManCitySquare Predicted Starting XI

Formation 4 – 3 – 3

Goalkeeper

Ederson

Defenders

Oleks Zinchenko

Aymeric Laporte

Nicolas Otamendi

Danilo

Midfielders

Fabian Delph

David Silva

Bernardo Silva

Attackers

Riyad Mahrez

Gabriel Jesus

Leroy Sane