Manchester City vs Bayern Munich Champions League Betting Preview & Prediction.

• The Champions League quarter-finals kick off with a mouth-watering clash between English champions Manchester City and German champions Bayern Munich at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. 
• City have been lethal of late and have scored 31 goals in their last eight matches, recording victories in all of those games. 
• Thomas Tuchel is the new man in charge at the Allianz Arena and is looking for more Champions League glory here after winning the competition with Chelsea in 2021. 

Injury News 

Erling Haaland was unavailable for City’s 4-1 win over Liverpool but did make his return in their 4-1 away win against Southampton, scoring another two goals upon his return. Julian Alvarez has proven to be a worthy back-up and has managed to score four goals in his last four appearances for the Citizens. The pair pose an intimidating front line. Phil Foden remains a doubt since he recently underwent surgery to remove his appendix. 

Lucas Hernandez and Manuel Neuer remain long-term absentees for Bayern, whilst Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is a doubt after missing the last match due to a knee injury. Bayern are still without an out and out forward but an array of attacking outlets in Thomas Müller, Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane and Sadio Mane should give them enough firepower. 

Champions League Form: 

The Citizens eventually eased past RB Leipzig in the round of 16, defeating Marco Rose’s side 8-1 on aggregate. However, the first leg in Eastern Germany was far from straight forward as defensive prodigy Josko Gvardiol cancelled out a Riyad Mahrez opener. 

Nevertheless, City demolished Leipzig in the return leg, with Haaland starring in a 7-0 rout. The Norwegian was even close to a double hat-trick, bagging five goals on the night before being taken off by head coach Pep Guardiola. 

More German opposition follows here but Bayern are expected to be a lot fiercer competition than their Bundesliga counterparts and could stifle City. The German outfit have conceded just two goals across their eight Champions League matches so far this term, keeping seven clean sheets in the process. 

Bayern piled on the European misery for Paris Saint-Germain as they knocked out the Parisians in the first knockout round. Julian Nagelsmann guided his side past the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi without conceding a single goal, recording a 1-0 win at the Parc des Princes, before wrapping up the tie at the Allianz Arena with a 2-0 triumph. 

Despite having a rocky domestic season, Bayern have been fantastic in Europe and will be full of confidence, despite facing a tricky City side that can’t stop scoring at the moment and who are also unbeaten in the competition thus far. They will also have to try and beat a strong defence in Europe too, with City conceding only three goals in the Champions League this season. 

UCL 22/23 Key Stats: 

Goals For: Man City 22, Bayern 21

Goals Against: Man City 3, Bayern 2

Both Teams To Score %: Man City 37.5%, Bayern 12.5%

Over 2.5 Goals %: Man City 62.5%, Bayern 37.5%

Head-to-head

It has been rare for Man City and Bayern to meet at the competitive level. However, they last did so at the Champions League group stage of the 2014/15 season. Sergio Aguero stole the headlines back then, scoring a hat-trick past Manuel Neuer at the Etihad. Guardiola was even the head coach of Bayern back then but has now changed his allegiances. 

However, Bayern did pick up a 1-0 victory at the Allianz Arena in the reverse fixture as a late goal from Jerome Boateng - who also featured for both clubs - secured the three points. Things have changed a lot since then and only Müller and Neuer remain for either side. 

Domestic Form

City still trail Arsenal in the Premier League as the Gunners look to stop the Citizens from securing their third consecutive league title. Pep has won the competition in four out of the last five seasons and despite Haaland yielding a behemoth 30 league goals so far this term, they sit six points behind Arsenal. 

However, they still have a game in hand and with some tough games on the horizon for Mikel Arteta’s men, we are set up for an enthralling end to the campaign. City have also been phenomenal of late and have won all eight of their last successive matches in all competitions, scoring 31 goals in the process. 

There have been big changes for Bayern of late after the sacking of Nagelsmann. Perhaps it was a little harsh after winning all of his Champions League group stages matches but they were not atop the Bundesliga standings, a point behind Borussia Dortmund at the time. 

Thomas Tuchel has since come in and earned all three points in Der Klassiker to overtake BVB and return to the summit. Bayern also recorded a 1-0 win away to Freiburg on Saturday as their lead sits at two points. 

Prediction & Suggested Bets

Man City 3-1 Bayern @ 11/1 City have been truly unstoppable of late and cannot stop scoring. It will be a difficult task for Bayern but their defensive record in Europe proves they are able to shut out strong attacks, like against PSG in the last round. However, we are backing City to take a first leg advantage, especially with it being in Manchester. 

Erling Haaland To Score Anytime @ 8/11 It seems like a no brainer for Haaland to score at the moment and so we are backing him to get the job done once more. The Norwegian just can’t stop scoring and has found the back of the net a total of 11 times in his last five appearances, including five against Leipzig in his last Champions League outing. 

Dayot Upamecano To Be Carded @ 12/5 The Frenchman was suspended for Bayern’s last outing due to yellow card accumulation and has picked up a booking in four of his last five outings. He has picked up just one booking in Europe so far this term but ill-discipline has been the theme for him of late and will face a tricky City attack on Tuesday. 

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