Manchester City v Copenhagen predictions: Comfortable victory for Citizens

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Manchester City v Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 8pm Wednesday

Best bets

Julian Alvarez last goalscorer
1pt 3-1 bet365, Betfred, Boyles

Manchester City 4-0
1pt 13-2 Betfair

Team news

Manchester City
John Stones, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are likely to be out while Rodri is a doubt. Aymeric Laporte came off the bench against Manchester United and may start.

Copenhagen
Akinkunmi Amoo is a long-term absentee while Rasmus Falk and Mamoudou Karamoko are doubts.

Match preview

Given the way in which Manchester City swept aside one of the most expensive squads in football history on Sunday, it’s hard not to fear for Copenhagen, who broke their transfer record in the summer with the £5.4million signing of Andreas Cornelius.

The Citizens' 6-3 hammering of their rivals Manchester United took their 2022-23 goal tally to 35 in ten games in all competitions with the phenomenal Erling Haaland netting 17 of those.

Pep Guardiola’s side have scored 22 goals in five home games this season and host a Copenhagen team who have made a distinctly average start to the new season.

After winning the Superliga last term, the Danes have lost six of their first 11 domestic matches this time around, two more than they did in the entirety of their title-winning campaign.

Copenhagen did pick up a point against fellow strugglers Sevilla in their last Champions League outing but were beaten 3-0 by Dortmund in their opener.

This is their first appearance in the group stages of this competition since 2016-17 and they were beaten by PSV Eindhoven in the round of 16 of the Europa Conference League last season.

Their start to the new campaign has been so poor that manager Jess Thorup was sacked last month, with 34-year-old Jacob Neestrup taking over the reins.

The new boss picked up a 1-0 victory over AGF in his first match in charge on Sunday but this is a different challenge altogether.

Guardiola’s City ran out easy 4-0 winners against Sevilla in their first European match of the campaign before late goals from John Stones and Erling Haaland saw them overcome a spirited Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in their last Champions League outing.

The Citizens may rotate for this contest but next week’s Champions League fixture is the return leg of this tie, which offers a more likely opportunity for Guardiola to make changes, particularly as they face Liverpool four days later.

Julian Alvarez has started just once for City since signing in the summer, but he netted twice on that occasion and while it’s unclear whether the Argentinian will make the starting 11, it seems likely that he will finish the 90 minutes on the pitch, as he has done in eight of his team’s ten matches.

As a result, Alvarez stands out as a solid candidate to score the last goal with Haaland unlikely to play the full game - the striker was substituted after netting his hat-trick against United on Sunday.

Guardiola’s men have registered two 4-0 wins already this season, and with Copenhagen unlikely to pose any significant threat going forward, that scoreline appeals for correct-score backers.

Key stat

Manchester City have scored 22 goals in five home games this season

Inside info

Manchester City

Penalty taker Erling Haaland
Assist ace Kevin De Bruyne
Set-piece aerial threat Erling Haaland
Card magnet Joao Cancelo

Copenhagen

Penalty taker Viktor Claesson
Assist ace Viktor Claesson
Set-piece aerial threat Andreas Cornelius
Card magnet Davit Khocholava

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