Manchester City vs. Celtic Preview
Where: Etihad Stadium – Manchester, England
When: Tuesday, December 6, 2:45 PM ET
Line: Manchester City -370 vs. Celtic +790, tie +375; total: 3.5 – view all Champions League lines
TV Broadcast: Fox Sports 1
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Betting on Manchester City (-370)
Manchester City will look to bounce back from Saturday’s gut-wrenching 3-1 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in the Premier League, which saw both Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho pick up late red cards. With City already locking up a spot in the next round, now is the time for manager Pep Guardiola to experiment and tinker with his lineup to find out who is best suited to replace those two key players.
One guy who can stake his claim in City’s starting XI is Kelechi Iheanacho. He has the best minutes-per-goal ratio (95.45) of any Premier League player to have scored more than 10 times since the start of the last campaign.The Nigerian has enjoyed a solid season thus far, scoring six goals (one in Champions League) and dishing out three assists this campaign.
City’s still the overwhelming favorite in this game as they have fared extremely well at home in Europe of late. The Citizens are unbeaten in their past seven Champions League home games (five wins, two draws), their longest run without a defeat in the competition at the Etihad Stadium. They have also only conceded one goal in their five Champions League home games in 2016, with the lone goal scored by the amazing Lionel Messi.
Manchester City are pegged at -385 to score first in this match.
Betting on Celtic (+790)
To say that Celtic had a disappointing European campaign would be a severe understatement. Currently standing at two points, they will finish bottom of the group in their first Champions League group campaign since 2013-14. That’s a disastrous result for Celtic who will not only miss out on the Champions League round of 16 but also on a Europa League place.
One of the rare highlights for Celtic in the Champions League this campaign is their 3-3 draw with Manchester City at Celtic Park. Moussa Dembele scored a double for Celtic in that match to end Pep Guardiola’s opening run of 10 wins with City. He is undoubtedly the team’s standout attacking talent, scoring a whopping 15 goals (5 in Europe) this campaign. Dembele’s expected to start for Brendan Rodgers who’s set to manage his first match in England since leaving Liverpool.
Celtic, who are coming off a thrilling 4-3 win against Motherwell over the weekend, have a very poor away record in the Champions League. They have lost 26 of their 29 Champions League road games (one win, two draws) and incredibly have never kept a clean sheet. Don’t expect that run to end this coming Tuesday as they have already allowed 15 goals in this year’s Champions League.
Celtic are pegged at +270 to score first in this match.
Writer’s Prediction
Manchester City (-370) ease past Celtic, 3-0.
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