Champions League Group A predictions and odds: Citizens can outgun Messi's PSG

Team-by-team guide, betting predictions, best bets and analysis for Champions League Group A.

Club Brugge

Manager
A former Belgium international who had a brief spell at Coventry, Philippe Clement completed a hat-trick of Belgian Pro League titles last season, the first as Genk boss and the next two with Club Brugge.

Transfer activity
Centre-back Odilon Kossounou joined Bayer Leverkusen for a hefty fee that funded several new arrivals including Leicester youngster Kamal Sowah, Scotland defender Jack Hendry and striker Wesley, who has returned to Bruges on loan from Aston Villa.

Key man
Hans Vanaken, twice Belgian player of the year, is a regular for the national team despite playing in the unglamorous Pro League. The midfielder is a classy playmaker with a keen eye for goal.

Prospects
The back-to-back Belgian champions have gained some valuable Champions League experience over the past three seasons, drawing with Monaco, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in the 2018-19 group stage and taking on Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain the following season.

Last term they were eliminated despite picking up a respectable eight points in Group F after drawing twice with Lazio and beating Zenit St Petersburg home and away.

They have been given the toughest draw imaginable this season but have a chance of beating Leipzig to third place and facing Manchester City and PSG should be quite the education, especially for 16-year-old defender Noah Mbamba.

Inside info

Best 11 (5-3-2)
Mignolet; Mata, Mbamba, Mechele, N'Soki, Sobol; Vormer, Balanta, Vanaken; De Ketelaere, Lang

Penalty taker Hans Vanaken

Set-piece aerial threat Hans Vanaken

Card magnet Stanley N'Soki

Star rating out of five Two

Manchester City

Manager
Pep Guardiola won two Champions League titles with Barcelona but has had to settle for domestic dominance at Bayern Munich and Manchester City, who lost to Chelsea in last season's final.

Transfer activity
The Citizens smashed their transfer record to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa but were frustrated in their pursuit of Harry Kane and are short on recognised strikers after Sergio Aguero's departure.

Key man
Centre-back Ruben Dias enjoyed a superb first season in England but Kevin de Bruyne remains the key to City's attacking unit and only Juan Cuadrado of Juventus claimed more Champions League assists than the Belgian maestro last season.

Prospects
Manchester City strolled to the Premier League title last season and were on track for the quadruple until defeats to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals and Champions League final.

City remain serious contenders for a first European title although they missed out on signing Kane this summer and group rivals PSG, who lost to the Citizens 4-1 on aggregate in last season's semi-finals, have outgunned them in the transfer market.

Guardiola's side should ease through to the last 16, with a defence that conceded just five times in 13 games in the 2020-21 Champions League, but their major European rivals look more formidable than last season.

Inside info

Best 11 (4-3-3)
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Dias, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Torres, Grealish

Penalty taker Ilkay Gundogan/Riyad Mahrez

Set-piece aerial threat Ruben Dias

Card magnet Fernandinho

Star rating out of five Five

Paris St-Germain

Manager
Mauricio Pochettino led unfancied Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019 but expectations are far higher after PSG's remarkable transfer business, especially after they were pipped to the Ligue 1 title by Lille last term.

Transfer activity
Signed free agents Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Georginio Wijnaldum, splashed out €60m on right-back Achraf Hakimi, and held on to Kylian Mbappe. All in all, not a bad transfer window.

Key man
It's hard to look past the legendary Messi although Real Madrid target Mbappe had a superb Champions League campaign in 2020-21, scoring six goals in the knockout-stage wins over Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Prospects
Paris St-Germain reached the Champions League final in 2019-20 and the semi-finals last season but nothing short of victory will satisfy the star-studded Parisians this time around.

Even before the signing of Lionel Messi they had enjoyed an excellent summer transfer window, although their tricky group draw means that Pochettino will need his new signings to gel quickly.

PSG's awesome individual talent gives them the edge over their rivals but slight concerns remain over the temperament of a team who lost the Ligue 1 title to Lille last term and had a player sent off in both legs of their semi-final defeat to Manchester City.

Inside info

Best 11 (4-3-3)
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Kimpembe, Ramos, Diallo; Wijnaldum, Marquinhos, Verratti; Messi, Mbappe, Neymar

Penalty taker Sergio Ramos

Set-piece aerial threat Marquinhos

Card magnet Idrissa Gueye

Star rating out of five Five

RB Leipzig

Manager
American coach Jesse Marsch has big boots to fill after Julian Nagelsmann was headhunted by Bayern Munich but cut him and he bleeds Red Bull, having led RB Salzburg to the Austrian double in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Transfer activity
Skipper Marcel Sabitzer and centre-back Dayot Upamecano followed Nagelsmann to Bayern and defender Ibrahima Konate left for Liverpool. Prolific Eintracht Frankfurt striker Andre Silva was the most eye-catching summer signing.

Key man
Brilliant Hungarian youngster Dominik Szoboszlai scored two fine goals against Stuttgart on his long-awaited full debut for Leipzig last month and he is a star in the making.

Prospects
RB Leipzig were shock semi-finalists in the 2019-20 Champions League and impressed again last season, beating Manchester United on matchday six to finish as runners-up to Paris St-Germain in Group H.

They beat a depleted PSG side 2-1 at home during that campaign but face a tougher task this term after the departures of wunderkind coach Julian Nagelsmann, centre-backs Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahima Konate, and captain Marcel Sabitzer.

They were outclassed by Liverpool in the last 16 last season, losing 4-0 on aggregate, and it could be a similar story when they travel to Manchester City and PSG on matchdays one and three.

Inside info

Best 11 (4-2-3-1)
Gulacsi; Klostermann, Orban, Simakan, Gvardiol; Adams, Haidara; Szoboszlai, Forsberg, Nkunku; Silva

Penalty taker Andre Silva

Set-piece aerial threat Willi Orban

Card magnet Amadou Haidara

Star rating out of five Three

Best bet

Manchester City to win Group A
1pt 5-4 bet365

Group A preview

Group A of the Champions League features the top two in the outright betting and both Paris St-Germain and Manchester City have a ravenous desire to be crowned champions of Europe for the first time.

PSG lost the 2020 final to Bayern Munich, a year after their coach Mauricio Pochettino had picked up a runners-up medal with Tottenham, and City suffered the same pain in May's 1-0 defeat against Chelsea.

RB Leipzig, who lost to PSG in the 2019-20 semi-finals and finished second in the Bundesliga last term, and Belgian champions Club Brugge, who are no mugs at this level, complete a high-calibre section.

Leipzig have lost some key personnel over the summer so it is hard to see them troubling the big two and preference, just about, is for City to win the group.

They travel to Paris on matchday two and it may be advantageous to face PSG as early as possible given that Lionel Messi played only 24 minutes for his new club before the international break.

It will surely take time for PSG's new stars to align and City, who conceded just one goal in six group games last term, look a more solid proposition at this stage.

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