Real Madrid vs Manchester City Prediction: Mbappe & Real to impress

No need for Amazon Prime Video on Wednesday night as the second-leg of Real Madrid vs Manchester City will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 from 20:00

Our La Liga Betting Expert had a profitable first-leg of this tie with Kylian Mbappe scoring anytime. He takes us through the team news and the two sides with his Real Madrid vs Manchester City Predictions for us at Betfred Insights...

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Manchester City visit the Santiago Bernabéu for the fifth time in six years on Wednesday night, with Pep Guardiola's side bidding to overturn a 3-2 first-leg deficit in their Champions League play-off tie. 

Real Madrid are firmly in the box seat after an open affair at the Etihad Stadium last week. While City twice led that game thanks to strikes from Erling Haaland, the visitors always felt like the superior side and were good value for their victory in the end. 

The win came thanks to 86th and 92nd minute goals, almost handed to them on a plate by a comedy of errors from the home team, with the Premier League side looking jittery in the closing stages as has been the case so many times this season. 

There were shades of their recent 4-2 defeat at PSG in January, when they let in four second-half goals to blow a two-goal advantage, not to mention their 5-1 loss at Arsenal earlier this month, with four of the five Gunners goals also coming after the interval. 

At full-time in Manchester, City looked understandably deflated and most neutrals watching on might have concluded that this tie was as good as over. 

The Real Madrid camp was naturally keen to play that down, and even if there was a hint of complacency creeping in from the Spanish team's perspective, City's impressive weekend performance ought to have focused a few minds.  

Up against a strong Newcastle side, Guardiola's team looked a lot more like their former selves, although it was a couple of new faces who were pivotal figures in a 4-0 victory. 

January signing Omar Marmoush netted his first goal for the club in the 19th minute, and by the 33rd minute he'd had already completed his hat-trick. The Egyptian looks capable of easing the burden on Haaland, while in midfield, it was a very impressive Premier League debut from Nico González who should provide some much-needed control in the centre of the pitch. 

At the very least, there was enough evidence in that game to suggest the 2023 winners are not going to exit this season's Champions League without a fight, but Real Madrid will still be feeling very good about their chances of progressing to a round-of-16 tie against either Atlético Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen. 

While their first-leg performance exuded the kind of usual confidence you'd associate with Los Blancos on the European stage, things haven't been going quite as smoothly on the domestic front of late. 

They've failed to win any of their three league games in February, with a seven-point swing to Barcelona ensuring the two La Liga giants are now neck-and-neck at the top of the table, with Atleti only a point further back in the tightest of title races. 

Real Madrid and their supporters have been left fuming at a series of controversial decisions that have gone against them in recent weeks. There were more of those at El Sadar on Saturday, the most notable of which saw Jude Bellingham sent off in the first half for some colourful language which he claimed was not directed at the referee. 

Despite another goal for Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Osasuna, and they have conceded in all five of their competitive matches this month. That should offer a glimmer of hope to the visitors, as the two most recent Champions League winners meet again, only 10 months after they shared six goals in a thrilling quarter-final clash in this stadium. 

Team News: 

Real Madrid have been dealt a major boost heading into this match, with Antonio Rüdiger expected to be fit enough to take his place in central defence. Fede Valverde is likely to continue at right-back, while Ferland Mendy, Dani Ceballos and Rodrygo should return following weekend rests. 

Lucas Vázquez and David Alaba are still rated doubtful though, while Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal are still on the road to recovery following ACL tears. 

As for the visitors, there was a minor injury scare for Haaland in the dying stages against Newcastle, but it looks as though he should be fit enough to lead the line in Madrid. Rúben Dias, Nathan Aké and Jack Grealish also trained on Tuesday, suggesting the trio should be able to feature having all missed the victory on Saturday. 

Rodri and Manuel Akanji will miss out again though due to their respective injuries. Meanwhile, Marmoush and Nico González stand a good chance of keeping their places after starring against the Magpies. 

Real Madrid vs Manchester City Odds

Real Madrid are the 19/20 favourites to win the second leg, while they are priced at 1/5 to win the tie. The draw is on offer at 100/30. Alternatively, you can back Man City to win inside 90 minutes at 12/5, while the visitors are available at 100/30 to complete what would be a very famous comeback and win the tie. 

There are normally goals whenever these clubs meet, and that's reflected in the odds, with Both teams to score priced at 1/3. Over 3.5 goals is also odds-on at 4/5, while you can back Both teams to score 2 or more goals at 2/1, a bet that has landed in two of the last three meetings. 

With Haaland expected to be fit, this game should feature two of the great strikers of this generation. Both scored in the first leg, and you can back the Norwegian to score anytime at 11/10 a week on, while Mbappé is priced at 5/6 in the same market. You can also use the Bet Builder to back Haaland to score anytime and Mbappé to score anytime at 13/5. 

Those two are far from the only goal threats though. From a home perspective, Vinícius Júnior won't be lacking motivation after City's tifo jibe at the Etihad last week. The Brazilian is priced at 23/20 to score anytime and 6/1 to score two or more. Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo are both priced at 15/8 to get on the scoresheet. 

Meanwhile, you can back Marmoush to build on his weekend heroics and score anytime at 7/4, while the former Eintracht Frankfurt man is available at 66/1 to score another hat-trick. 

Bet 1 - Highest scoring half - Second half @ 19/20 

Real Madrid will still be wary of the individual quality Manchester City possess, and this game may not be a simple case of Ancelotti's side building on their first-leg dominance and immediately running away with the tie. 

While they have home advantage, there is no pressure on Real Madrid to chase this and that could just work to their advantage, as it will allow them to drop slightly deeper and look to strike on the counter-attack where they are so effective. 

At some point, Man City will have to take risks and go for it, and that may result in things opening up considerably after the break. That has tended to be the way of things in their Champions League matches this season in any case, with 70% of the goals City have scored in the competition, and 88% of their goals conceded, coming after the break. 

Given that, I'm backing the Second half in the Highest scoring half market at 19/20. 

Bet 2 - Real Madrid over 1.5 goals & Kylian Mbappé 2+ shots on target @ 6/5 

While his goal came via a mishit, Mbappé was a menace throughout the first leg. He registered five attempts and three shots on target in a game that also saw Real Madrid become the first visiting team to have 20 shots at the Etihad during the Guardiola era. 

This Real Madrid side is currently structured so that it serves up as many chances as possible for Mbappé, potentially at the expense of some of their other attacking stars. We saw further evidence of that in Pamplona on Saturday, with Mbappé having eight shots in that game, while the 26-year-old has hit the target at least twice in all of his last six appearances. 

The state of this tie also suggests this is perfectly set up for the Frenchman to thrive on the space the visiting defence will most likely leave as City target a way back, and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Real Madrid over 1.5 goals and Mbappé 2+ shots on target at 6/5. 

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out Mark's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...