Manchester City welcome Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of their Quarter-Final tie in 2020-21 UEFA Champions League.
Victory here would put either team one step closer towards a semi-final against Bayern Munich or PSG, of whom both contested last season’s Final.
Team News
Man City have no fresh injury concerns to report after Saturday’s away win at Leicester.
Borussia Dortmund will be without Jadon Sancho after failing to recover from a thigh injury.
Axel Witsel (Achilles), Marcel Schmelzer, Dan-Axel Zagadou (both knee) and Youssoufa Moukoko (shin) are ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Man City are winless in two previous Champions League meetings against Borussia Dortmund (D1, L1).
- Dortmund drew their previous trip to Man City in October 2012, in which Marco Reus put them ahead but Mario Balotelli’s 90th minute penalty resulted in 1-1 draw.
- Sergio Aguero is the only Man City player from their two meetings against Borussia Dortmund in 2012-13 season to still play for the Citizens.
- Erling Haaland has scored five goals in three away Champions League trips for Dortmund this season.
- City have scored first in three of their four ‘home’ Champions League games this season.
Prediction
Man City enter this match in fierce form and were simply dominant on Saturday at Leicester with strong creative attacking play throughout, yet poor composed accuracy cost them more goals whilst the defence weathered rare Leicester attacks solidly.
Dortmund meanwhile worry me coming into this game because their form and defence has been incredibly inconsistent this season with 52 conceded goals in 40 games across all competitions, which doesn’t stand them in good stead against a team of City’s form.
Saying that, Haaland and several other Dortmund players can be dangerous on the attack so I expect a proper scrappy contest but if City can stick to their game and defend well then they should edge this encounter.
Prediction: Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Result: Manchester City 2-1 Borussia Dortmund