Man City vs Copenhagen Prediction: Away side can get a result

Manchester City, fresh from their derby day victory, face Copenhagen on Wednesday night (20:00), looking to secure their place in the Champions League quarter-finals. The Citizens are already 3-1 up following the away leg, and now return to the Etihad for what should be a straightforward night in terms of qualification. 

Pep Guardiola will be keen to rest players if the opportunity presents itself, given this game comes just a few days before a crunch clash with Liverpool at Anfield. Below we’ve taken a look at the betting market on Betfred to come up with a couple of selections. 

Team News

Man City’s excellent form has coincided with a return to fitness for several key players. Now, Jack Grealish is the only absentee with groin issue. Josko Gvardiol returned to the bench at the weekend and is likely to be given some minutes here, while Rico Lewis and Mateo Kovacic may also be handed starts. 

For the visitors, Lukas Lerager is out injured, alongside Theo Sander, Davit Khocholava and Viktor Claesson. The latter was withdrawn in Friday’s loss to Midtjylland and is likely to miss this one, with exciting talent Roony Bardghji expected to lead the line. 

Match Odds

Manchester City are huge favourites to win this game, priced at 1/7. Meanwhile, Copenhagen are available at 14/1, a draw is 15/2, BTTS is 11/10 and over 2.5 goals is 4/11. 

BTTS @ 11/10

The home side have been impressive of late, but they are not perfect. Defensively, Guardiola will have some concerns heading to Anfield and given they have kept only three clean sheets in their last nine matches, I believe Copenhagen could cause them issues. 

Man City are going to score, they always score at home, so essentially you are getting above EVS for Copenhagen to find the net. Remember they scored in the reverse fixture, and lost 3-1 so will have to attack at some point during this game. When you take into account the changes Guardiola is likely to make, this choice makes even more sense. 

City are likely to make changes either from the start, or during the game if qualification is assured. That will give Copenhagen a chance of finding the net at some point during the 90 minutes.

Double Chance: Draw or Copenhagen win @ 4/1

Manchester City are too short to back in this game, and I actually believe that opens the door for some good value. City are, of course, one of the best teams in the world, but there are a few factors at play here, some of which I have already mentioned. 

Copenhagen are a decent side, having beaten Manchester United and qualified from a group containing Bayern Munich and Galatasaray. To write them off would be silly, and while I don’t think they will qualify, I think they can get something at the Etihad. With City 3-1 up, they are basically through already, and that mentality could cost them on the night. 

If the score is 1-1 with 10 or 15 minutes to go, are they really going to go all out for the winner? There’s simply no need. Guardiola in that scenario, will likely take key players off ahead of the weekend. The 15/2 available on the draw is also tempting, but I like to cover both bases here with this 4/1 choice.

Check out our other Football Betting Tips here.