Manchester City welcome Marseille to the Etihad Stadium in their final Group C clash of 2020-21 UEFA Champions League.
Man City are already through as group winners but Marseille must better Olympiacos’ result if they want to drop into the Europa League after Christmas as the third best Group C team.
Team News
Sergio Aguero could feature for Man City after missing their last two matches with a knee injury, although he is likely to be named on the substitute bench rather than in the starting lineup.
Marseille could be without Morgan Sanson due to a knock but Nemanja Radonjic is ruled out with a thigh injury.
Stat Attack
- Man City won their only previous meeting against Marseille, defeating the French opposition 3-0 in late October at the Stade Velodrome.
- Marseille have won one of their last five trips to England in all UEFA competitions (W1, D1, L3).
- Last week’s goalless draw at Porto was the first time that City participated in a 0-0 result in 43 Champions League matches since last contesting a goalless draw against Real Madrid in April 2016 at home.
Prediction
Man City might already be through as group winners but I can’t see Pep Guardiola settling for a mediocre performance because they still need to build and maintain momentum to take into their domestic games over winter, especially if they’re to push for the title after a sluggish start to this season.
Marseille meanwhile know that the pressure is on them to get a result whilst hoping that Porto do them a favour by beating Olympiacos elsewhere, so can afford to come out and try to attack this game with everything that they can against a Man City team who are quite difficult to beat at home.
City however weren’t able to run riot against a stubborn Fulham team on Saturday which offers hope for Marseille if can deploy a counter-attack strategy and importantly convert their shots into goals, otherwise I can see them crashing out of Europe for this season here.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-0 Marseille
Result: Manchester City 3-0 Marseille