Man City v Marseille: Champions League football predictions & free betting tips

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

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Wednesday

Best bet

Man City to win and both teams to score
1pt 21-10 bet365, BoyleSports

Team news

Manchester City
Sergio Aguero (knee) is training but may be given more time to fully recover. Nathan Ake (hamstring) was on the bench for the 0-0 draw away to Porto eight days ago.

Marseille
Nemanja Radonjic (thigh) remains unavailable but Leonardo Balerdi has served a one-match ban.

Match preview

Strength in depth is a vital component for clubs to competing on several fronts and Manchester City's fringe players can show their worth by defeating Marseille on Champions League matchday six at the Etihad.

Pep Guardiola's priority this week is Saturday's Manchester derby at Old Trafford, so it makes little sense to risk key players for a clash which has no impact on City's finishing position in Group C.

Top spot was secured when City drew 0-0 at Porto last Tuesday, allowing Guardiola to switch his focus to domestic matters and offering a little more hope to fourth-placed Marseille, who are competing with Olympiakos for third place and Europa League knockout stage qualification.

Marseille won 2-1 at home to the Greeks last Tuesday but remain below them due to a poorer head-to-head record and must better their result on matchday six if they are going to extend their European campaign.

That is going to be tough and will be entirely out of their hands if Olympiakos win at home to Porto.

However, the French side must hope for some assistance in Athens and focus on breaking City's ten-match unbeaten sequence in Champions League home games which stretches back to Lyon surprise 2-1's success in September 2018.

Marseille head coach Andre Villas-Boas might as well approach the contest with a positive mindset but his team lack a top-quality striker with first-choice centre-forward Dario Benedetto scoring just twice in 15 appearances this season.

Veteran winger Dimitri Payet was their match-winner against Olympiakos – converting two penalties – but the biggest danger to City comes from former Newcastle attacker Florian Thauvin, who has been involved in nine of their 17 league goals this season, contributing four goals and five assists.

Marseille have won their last two Ligue 1 games and are fourth, just four points behind leaders PSG, who have played two games more.

However, their Champions League performances have been a major disappointment and they hardly laid a glove on City during the matchday two meeting at the Stade Velodrome, losing the match 3-0 and the shot count eight to two.

They are up against an under-strength City team in Manchester but the home side will still be full of quality players eager to press their claims for more regular football.

City should wrap up the campaign with a victory but Marseille are likely to be more positive than they were in October and can grab a consolation goal.

Key stat

Manchester City to win and both teams to score has been a successful bet in three of the Citizens' last five Champions League home games.

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