Manchester City will endeavour to produce another five-star showing when they battle Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday in Group A.
Pep Guardiola's men eased to a 5-1 win when the sides met in Belgium on matchday four, but the Citizens are not exactly on cloud nine heading into this clash.
Match preview
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Facing a side who had held Paris Saint-Germain to a draw and defeated RB Leipzig may have led to some apprehension within the City camp, but Guardiola's side asserted their dominance in Europe with a crushing 5-1 win over Club Brugge last month.
Cole Palmer, Joao Cancelo, Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez (2) were all on the scoresheet while Hans Vanaken pulled one back for Brugge, but the Premier League champions have posted a pair of worrying domestic results ahead of this encounter.
After their perennial reign of dominance in the EFL Cup was ended by West Ham United, City failed to produce the goods in front of their own fans and slumped to defeat against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, with Wilfried Zaha and Conor Gallagher netting at the Etihad.
Now at risk of losing three games in a row across all competitions - something they have not done since April 2018 - City remain in the top two of Champions League Group A behind PSG, although Brugge would leapfrog Guardiola's men with all three points here.
While that defeat to Palace had alarm bells ringing for Guardiola, the Citizens can take confidence from their seven-game winning run on home soil in the Champions League, during which they have never failed to score at least twice in a game.
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Despite pitting their wits against PSG and Leipzig and coming away with a respectable four-point haul to show for their efforts, attempting to get one over the rampant Guardiola machine proved a step too far for Club Brugge.
However, the Belgian outfit have done remarkably well to hold their own in a group that many expected them to finish dead last in, and with Leipzig yet to claim a point in Europe this term, Brugge are guaranteed to sit in the top three by the close of play on matchday four.
Philippe Clement's side were indebted to an old head in Bas Dost during their league encounter with Sint-Truiden at the weekend, as the 32-year-old netted the opener after 40 seconds before repeating the trick in the second half in a 2-1 success.
Brugge have strung together a five-game unbeaten run away from home in all competitions ahead of their trip to the Etihad, but they have also conceded in each of their last four on the road, while their last clean sheet in the Champions League on rival territory came all the way back in August 2019.
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Team News
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Ferran Torres remains Man City's only injury concern with a fractured foot, while Aymeric Laporte's red card at the weekend means nothing for the Champions League.
Ahead of the weekend's Manchester derby, Guardiola should certainly shuffle the pack for this game, with Mahrez and Raheem Sterling both in line to return to the attack.
Kevin De Bruyne is supposedly at risk of losing his starting place for the meeting with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men, and Guardiola may be tempted to recall Ilkay Gundogan here.
As for Brugge, midfielder Eder Balanta has now picked up three bookings in the Champions League and will not be available here, so Ruud Vormer and Mats Rits ought to line up in midfield.
Highly-rated winger Noa Lang is suspended for his side's next league fixture but is fine to line up here, while Stanley Nsoki returns from a domestic ban of his own to displace Brandon Mechele in defence.
Dost has certainly put himself in the frame to lead the line with his game-winning brace at the weekend, and he may be granted his wish after Kamal Sowah was nowhere to be seen.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Rodri, Silva; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
Club Brugge possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Mata, Hendry, Nsoki, Sobol; Rits, Vormer; Lang, Vanaken, De Ketelaere; Dost
We say: Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge
City's confidence has been rocked by two dampening domestic results in recent weeks, but Guardiola's men are almost always unplayable at home in Champions League group-stage matches.
Brugge will hope to take inspiration from Palace's Etihad triumph, but after conceding five to the Citizens on home soil, we can only envisage Clement's side coming up short once again.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester City win with a probability of 59.32%. A draw had a probability of 22% and a win for Club Brugge had a probability of 18.68%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester City win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.28%) and 2-1 (9.93%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.42%), while for a Club Brugge win it was 0-1 (5.48%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Manchester City would win this match.
