Jeremy Doku stole the show with one goal and four assists as City beat Bournemouth 6-1 in their last outing, and following on from the 3-0 win over Manchester United, Pep Guardiola&aposs side enter Tuesday&aposs clash in fine form. Not only will three points against Young Boys make it five wins in a row across all competitions, but it will secure City&aposs spot in the last 16 of the Champions League.
City&aposs clash against Young Boys in the last UCL outing ended in a 3-1 win for Guardiola&aposs side, with Erling Haaland scoring twice. So, could City make it out of the group stages?
Let&aposs take a look.
To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 24 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that City could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Lewis; Rodri, Bernardo, Alvarez; Foden, Haaland, Grealish.
We predict that the visitors could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Racioppi; Janko, Camara, Benito, Garcia; Ugrinic, Lauper, Niasse; Monteiro, Itten, Elia.
City started brightly at the Etihad, and just four minutes in they took the lead when Ruben Dias towered over his marker to head Julian Alvarez&aposs corner off the crossbar and into the net. It was an emphatic opening to the game, and 11 minutes in, Guardiola&aposs side made it 2-0.
Bernardo Silva brilliantly wormed his way past three defenders just outside the box before laying the ball off to Alvarez, and the Argentine took aim from distance, but his effort was blocked into the path of Silva. The midfielder did well to control the loose ball and surge through one-on-one, and a composed finish into the bottom corner handed City a strong lead early on.
The pressure from City continued as they looked to kill the game in the first half, and Jack Grealish should&aposve made it 3-0 in the 25th minute when he rounded the &aposkeeper, but the angle was too narrow as the forward sent his effort into the side netting. But, just before the break, a rapid City counterattack was finished off by Alvarez to make it 3-0 before half time.
As Young Boys enjoyed a bit of possession, Rodri won back possession before launching a long ball forward for Haaland to chase. The striker drifted out to the right to pick up the ball, and his drilled cross into the box was tapped into an empty net by Alvarez who had a hand in all three goals.
With such a dominant lead, City took their foot off the gas in the second half, holding onto possession and seeing out the game as Guardiola&aposs side won 3-0 to confirm their spot in the Champions League Round of 16.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
The transfer window has been a hectic one and City have been busy, with high-profile signings and sales aplenty.
City snapped up Croatian pair Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol from Chelsea and RB Leipzig respectively with the latest addition being Jeremy Doku. Wolves&apos Matheus Nunes then joined the Blues on deadline day. In terms of outgoings, Treble winner Ilkay Gundogan departed for Barcelona, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez moved to Saudi Arabia, and Cole Palmer completed a shock move to Chelsea.
Our team of City experts will be on top of all the goings-on at the Etihad across deadline day and beyond, and you can get the latest updates and inside information to your phone by joining our new free WhatsApp community below.
