Manchester City Vs Bayer Leverkusen: Exploiting At Etihad

Erling Haaland, must not be barren when Manchester City needs victory (photo: x @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City will try to make up for their disappointment in the Premier League when they host Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League league phase match at the Etihad Stadium, Tuesday, November 25 local time. The Citizens are collecting 10 points from four matches and are ranked fourth of 36 participants. Leverkusen is far behind, which is the 21st position, but comes with a very promising performance capital.

Manchester City actually had the opportunity to cut the gap with Arsenal in the 12th week of the Premier League. But the 1-2 defeat to Newcastle United at St James Park made Pep Guardiola's side again doubtful in the title competition.

After a goalless game for an hour, Harvey Barnes scored twice for Newcastle, only one goal back from Ruben Dias. The defeat cut City's four straight win trend in all competitions.

Even so, City still performed convincingly in the Champions League. They only lost to Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan in the league phase this season. On the fourth matchday, The Sky Blues beat Borussia Dortmund 4-1, while adding their impressive record to 23 home games without defeat in the Champions League league stage 'wining 20 of them.

City also always scored a minimum of two goals in their seven consecutive home wins in the Champions League. This statistic keeps Etihad a difficult fort to penetrate, despite domestic inconsistencies.

On the other hand, Leverkusen came as a team that has been on the rise since being handled by Kasper Hjulmand who replaced Erik ten Hag. They won their first win in the Champions League this season on the fourth matchday of beating Benfica 1-0. The trend continued in the Bundesliga, where they destroyed Heidenheim 6-0 and beat Wolfsburg 3-1 before traveling to Manchester.

Seven of Leverkusen's last nine matches in all competitions ended in victory. They are now only one more win to reach 50 wins in their history in the Champions League, which is certainly not easy to achieve at the Etihad.

This meeting is also a historic party because Man City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met in an official competition before.

City still have to play without Rodri and Mateo Kovacic. Rodri has a hamstring problem and is doubtful, while Kovacic ankle injuries are expected to take months to recover.

Beyond those two names, the City squad is relatively fit. Guardiola is likely to rotate after losing to Newcastle, giving the opportunity to appear from the early minutes for John Stones, Tijjani Reijnders, and Savinho.

Erling Haaland was indeed sluggish at St James Park, but he scored in the last five Champions League games and had a good record against Leverkusen while still playing Dortmund.

Leverkusen came in good condition with the squad. Robert Andrich is still undergoing a ban from playing after the red card against PSG, while Edmond Tapsoba is absent due to the accumulation of yellow cards.

The absence of Tapsoba makes Jarell Quansah projected to go down with Loic Bade and Jeanuel Belocian. Axel Tape is still in a thigh injury, while the midfield is getting worse because Equi Fernandez and Exequiel Palacios are absent.

Ibrahim Maza and Aleix Garcia became the only fit midfielder, although Maza was replaced in the first half against Wolfsburg with a minor injury. If he is not ready, Claudio Echeverri a loan player from Man City could appear as a starter against his parent club.

Lucas Vazquez and Arthur are also doubtful due to muscle and back injuries.

Leverkusen has been productive scoring 16 goals in the last six games and may be able to take advantage of City's potentially rotated backline. However, the condition of their squad which was crippled by injury and suspension is predicted to make it difficult for them to stem City, which is always fierce at the Etihad. The Citizens are more favorite to secure the full three points.

Donnarumma; Lewis, Stones, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Gonzalez; Savinho, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland

Fleken; Belocian, Bade, Quansah; Tella, Maza, Garcia, Grimaldo; Tillman, Poku; Schick

Manchester City 3'1 Bayer Leverkusen