Manchester City vs Galatasaray Prediction: Osimhen to sink City?

Manchester City will look to climb into the top eight of the Champions League group phase at the perfect time, as they host Galatasaray in the final round of fixtures (20:00 GMT, TNT Sport 6). 

Below you can find my Manchester City vs Galatasaray predictions featuring team news and betting tips. 

Team News

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden are expected to return to the starting XI for this game having been on the bench against Wolves at the weekend. Rodri is suspended for this one, while injuries to John Stones, Nico Gonzalez, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol and Savinho leave Guardiola slightly thin on the ground. 

January arrivals Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo have both massively strengthened their squad but cannot feature in the group phase of this competition. Jeremy Doku may also be brought back into the XI, despite Omar Marmoush impressing on his return to the side in the Premier League.

Football Odds

Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane will both be warmly welcomed back to the Etihad, as they now wear the halves of Galatasaray. The German midfielder won six Premier League titles with Manchester City, including scoring the vital winning goal on the final day in 2021/22. 

Meanwhile Sane won two league titles before a successful stint at Bayern Munich - and now he finds himself in Turkey. Victor Osimhen is the main threat, having scored six goals in five UCL games, and the attacking quartet should be completed by Baris Alper Yilmaz. Familiar former Premier League players also include Mario Lemina, Lucas Torreira and Davinson Sanchez, who should all start. 

Today's Football Fixtures

Manchester City vs Galatasaray Odds

Man City are the favourites to win this game, priced at 1/5 to take all three points, while Galatasaray are the rank outsiders at 10/1. A draw can be backed at 6/1, over 2.5 goals is 2/7 and BTTS is 4/6. 

Haaland is obviously the favourite to score first at 7/4.

Both teams to score @ 4/6

This game feels like it should contain goals. Galatasaray have so much attacking talent that you’d think they should be able to break down a Man City defence that is short on key players. Osimhen is a serious threat with 13 goals in 18 this season, while Sane and Gundogan should be able to make a big impact against their old club. 

Both teams have scored in five of the last six Galatasaray games, while both teams have scored in three of the last for Man City games in Europe - including in their most recent 3-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt. 

Victor Osimhen to score anytime @ 9/5 

I don’t think the value lies in backing Manchester City here - given we have seen them lose to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt in recent weeks. They don’t look solid at the back, they don’t have their first choice defenders available and although they could win this game, I can’t see them keeping a clean sheet. 

As a result, I think we have to back Osimhen to score. He’s one of the most dangerous strikers in Europe and his record speaks for itself in recent years. This term, six goals in five UCL outings put him only behind Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot - while he’s averaging 1.33 goals per 90. Big price to find the net at anytime at the Etihad. 

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