The Champions League Quarter-Final first legs are here and two of the favourites to win the competition are set to meet in a highly-anticipated clash. It’s Manchester City vs Bayern Munich in an 8pm BST kick-off on Tuesday night from the Etihad Stadium.
Citizens Aim to Strike Early Blow
There is no denying all the pressure on Manchester City in this first leg. The Citizens are available to win at odds of 4/6 with BetUK which seems a brutal price given the potential difficulty of the opposition they face. Despite their off-field problems with the sacking of former head coach Julian Nagelsmann and the appointment of Thomas Tuchel, Bayern remain a force of nature on the European stage.
On the plus side, it does feel City have now entered that mindset where they are getting serious now. 9 wins and 2 draws from their last 11 matches played across all competitions suggests that Pep Guardiola has now got his team purring at precisely the right time. The club have scored 21 goals in their last 4 competitive games, so their attacking threat is delivering unreal performance levels.
Due to that statistic, it’s no surprise that the first four players in the first goalscorer market are City players in Erling Haaland (27/10 with Unibet), Julian Alvarez (5/1 with Sporting Index), Riyad Mahrez (15/2 with Bet365), and Kevin De Bruyne (10/1 with Boylesports). It’s also interesting to see that the total number of home goals over 2.5 is listed at 2/1 with Betfred.
Tuchel to Repeat Historic Glory?
It may have been a surprising choice by the Bayern hierarchy to ditch Nagelsmann. After all, he had delivered a 100% record in the Champions League and led his team to 7 clean sheets in 8 matches in the competition. The German side did also eliminate one of their rivals for the trophy in PSG in the last 16 without conceding a goal against an attack that included Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar. Clearly, still not good enough by Bayern standards if you’re not doing the business on the domestic front.
The new man at the helm, Tuchel will be aiming to get one over on an old enemy in Guardiola. The former Chelsea gaffer led his Blues side to the Champions League trophy over Pep’s City back in 2021 thanks to a Kai Havertz winner. That loss still weighs heavy on Guardiola and he’ll be keen to gain revenge.
One bet that might appeal to the risk-takers is backing Bayern Munich to keep their run of clean sheets going whilst also taking inspiration from Tuchel’s last Champions League meeting with Guardiola. A 1-0 win for Bayern here is priced at 10/1 with Coral. A double chance wager of 13/10 with Betway is also a tempting pick. It just feels naïve to write a team as strong as Bayern off in a game like this.
Goals Incoming!
You only need to see the history between these two teams to see that we can expect a potential goal fest here. The last meeting back on 25th November, 2014 saw City prevail as 3-2 winners at home. Granted, the reverse fixture that season was only a 1-0 win for the German side but that was in Munich.
In fact, in three of the last four meetings, over 3.5 goals have been scored in this fixture. Yes, Bayern Munich are a lot more defensively resilient this season but the change of head coach could leave its issues and City are rampant in their attacking play right now.
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich Betting Tips
What a match we have on our hands here. Manchester City are a team that feels like their lifting of the Champions League trophy has a sense of inevitability about it. Everything is in place. They have come so close before but it’s just not happened for them. Is this the season that changes?
I still feel Real Madrid are the team to beat this season but I do think the winner of this tie will provide a stern semi-final test for the Spanish side. Who will it be? I think City could hold the edge but it’s in the balance. I think backing total goals scored over 3.5 and Erling Haaland as first scorer offer interesting value.
Total Goals Scored Over 3.5 @ 9/5 with Betfair
First Goalscorer: Erling Haaland @ 27/10 with Unibet
All odds are accurate at the time of writing.
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