PSG v Manchester City predictions: Guardiola's side can grab the initiative

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Paris St-Germain v Manchester City in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Wednesday

Best bet

Manchester City
1pt 6-5 Hills

Team news

Paris St-Germain
Kylian Mbappe is expected to recover from a dead leg and Marquinhos (groin) has returned to training. Juan Bernat (knee) is a long-term absentee.

Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne (ankle) and Sergio Aguero (knee) rejoined the squad for the League Cup final success over Tottenham.

Match preview

Winning the EFL Cup final was a tasty starter for Pep Guardiola but the Manchester City manager is hungry to devour a trophy treble and can boost his chances by steering the Premier League side to a Champions League semi-final first leg success over Paris St-Germain.

Achieving European glory with City is an obsession for Guardiola and he is just two steps away after ending a sequence of three successive quarter-final defeats.

Arguably the most painful of those losses was inflicted by a Tottenham team managed by Mauricio Pochettino.

One of Guardiola's lowest points in the City dugout was a glorious occasion for Pochettino, who steered Spurs to their only Champions League final appearance.

But Pochettino struggled to come to terms with Tottenham's 2-0 loss to Liverpool in the final and was replaced by Jose Mourinho less than six months later.

One of the sticks used to beat Pochettino has been his failure to deliver trophies but he has three opportunities to answer his critics over the next few weeks with PSG chasing titles in the Champions League, Ligue 1 and the French Cup.

The French title race looks like going down to the wire with leaders Lille a point clear of second-placed PSG and third-placed Monaco just a point further back.

But the greatest pressure on Pochettino is to win the Champions League and satisfy the club's long-held desire to be crowned kings of the continent.

They lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 final and exacted swift revenge over the Bavarians in this season's quarter-finals, drawing 3-3 on aggregate and advancing on the away-goals rule.

However, PSG had the benefit of facing a Bayern side severely weakened by the absence of injured striker Robert Lewandowski and they still had to ride their luck, losing the shot count 45-16 over the course of the tie.

City are every bit as good as Bayern in the quality of their football and, unlike the Bavarians, they tackle PSG with a fully-fit squad.

Guardiola likes to chop and change and bristles at the suggestion that any of his selections are less than full strength.

He has the nicest of selection headaches to ponder after so many players shone in Sunday's Wembley success over Tottenham, which was far more one-sided than the 1-0 scoreline suggests.

Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne were at the heart of City's best moves against Spurs and Raheem Sterling looked sharp and eager to force his way back into the manager's thinking.

City have lacked a prolific goalscorer since Sergio Aguero stopped playing regularly but they have match-winners all over the pitch and no obvious weak links.

The best route to success against City is swift counter-attacks and PSG might have the perfect answer if they can utilise the pace and quality of Kylian Mbappe.

The 22-year-old has been the top scorer since the start of the Champions League knockout stages, notching four times against Barcelona and twice against Bayern, and is a huge threat.

However, he was forced off with a dead leg in PSG's 3-1 win at Metz on Saturday and doubts over his fitness swing the pendulum even further in favour of City, who look solid favourites to secure a first-leg lead.

Key stat

Manchester City have won their last 17 away games.

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