Preview:Monaco vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Back in the groove under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City seek a fifth win from six in all competitions when they visit the Stade Louis II on Wednesday for a Champions League date with Monaco.

The Sky Blues saw off Napoli 2-0 in their inaugural European clash of the season, while the Ligue 1 powerhouses were put to the sword by Club Brugge away from home.

Match preview

Making Kevin De Bruyne's Mancunian homecoming a miserable one, Man City took full advantage of an early red card for Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo - which led to De Bruyne's premature withdrawal - to dispatch the Italian champions with minimal fuss.

After 10-man Napoli managed to make it to half time unscathed, a customary Erling Haaland goal preceded a Jeremy Doku strike in a 2-0 Etihad success for Guardiola's crop, who are seldom outclassed in the earliest stages of the Champions League.

Indeed, the Citizens have now only tasted defeat in three of their last 21 league phase/group-stage games of the continent's premier tournament, while also finding the back of the net in 28 of their last 30 games in any UEFA competition.

The two-goal triumph over Napoli represents one of four successes that Man City have marched to during a five-match unbeaten run in all competitions, most recently pummelling Burnley 5-1 in Saturday's Premier League scrap after easing past Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup.

An agonising 1-1 draw away to Arsenal - where Guardiola's parked bus had its windows smashed in the final few moments - is the only aberration for Man City in that sequence, but the travelling fans can take little confidence from their side's continental form on the road, as the club are on a four-game losing streak in UCL away fixtures.

Speaking of Champions League fours away from home, Monaco left Belgium battered and bruised on matchday one of the 2025-26 tournament, as Adi Hutter's defence was carved open at will by a clinical Club Brugge side in a 4-1 beatdown.

A first-half horror show for Monaco saw Maghnes Akliouche's 10th-minute penalty saved by Simon Mignolet and Club Brugge score three times without reply, before erasing any shred of doubt about the result with a fabulous fourth goal in the 75th minute.

Ansu Fati's injury-time effort was of little consolation for the Ligue 1 outfit, who have now lost five of their last seven matches in Europe's top competition and have already plummeted to 34th in the table - not that the standings mean much at present, though.

The chaos has continued for Les Monegasques in their two matches since, both to their benefit and detriment, as Monaco followed up a 5-2 Ligue 1 thrashing of Metz with a crushing 3-1 loss to Lorient on Saturday, where Thilo Kehrer's first-half red card proved costly.

As Monaco have now shared a staggering 24 goals across their last five games - an average of nearly five per match - a repeat of their 2016-17 UCL thriller with Man City is certainly not off the cards; the Ligue 1 side reached the quarter-finals on away goals that year following a pulsating 6-6 aggregate draw.

Monaco Champions League form:

Monaco form (all competitions):

Manchester City Champions League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Team News

Man City came through their battering of Burnley with no new concerns on the fitness front, but the increasingly injury-plagued Rodri missed that Premier League win due to a knee concern and is on the touch-and-go list for Monaco.

Guardiola is expected to do without Abdukodir Khusanov (ankle), Rayan Ait-Nouri (unspecified) and Omar Marmoush (knee) for a little while longer too, while Rayan Cherki's thigh injury is unlikely to heal fully until November.

Banking two goals and an assist at the weekend, talisman Haaland will now play his 50th Champions League game on Wednesday night; with an astounding 50 strikes from 49 matches so far, he has already broken the record for the most competition goals in a player's first half-century of appearances.

As for Monaco, all eyes will be on whether Paul Pogba will be considered fit enough for a dream debut against Man City, but the former Manchester United lynchpin is likely still a couple of weeks away from being fully match ready.

Hutter is also managing without Lamine Camara (ankle), Denis Zakaria (groin), Aleksandr Golovin (hamstring), Alajdi Bamba (unspecified) and number one goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky (knee), but Kehrer's sending-off at the weekend means nothing for his Champions League availability.

Thanks to another inconsequential late strike at the weekend, Barcelona loanee Fati already boasts an eye-catching four goals from three substitute appearances for Monaco, and a first start on Wednesday is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Monaco possible starting lineup:

Kohn; Vanderson, Dier, Kehrer, Henrique; Akliouche, Coulibaly, Teze, Fati; Balogun, Biereth

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Stones, Gvardiol, O'Reilly; Gonzalez; Bobb, Silva, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland

We say: Monaco 1-3 Manchester City

Owing to Pogba's lack of fitness and injuries to Camara and Zakaria, Monaco are grappling with a midfield selection crisis at the worst possible time and risk being overrun by a trigger-happy Man City side.

Hutter's men remain as dangerous as ever in the final third, but their defensive frailties are there for all to see, and the Citizens should make light work of their depleted hosts.

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