Manchester City have work to do, after a frustrating home display against Serie A giants Juventus last time out. A 2-1 defeat at the Etihad highlighted their lack of a clinical touch in-front of goal, and going into their trip to Germany on Wednesday, they definitely need to pick up some points.
In Group D – otherwise known as the Group of Death, Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach will be seen as the group’s weakest team, which is an unfair assessment of the quality they have on-show in their ranks.
Possibly because they do not boast an impressive European pedigree, or the fact they are not constantly fighting with Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title; they’re a well-oiled side who consistently perform well throughout – despite not having the financial firepower that City effortlessly rule supreme with in comparison.
Manuel Pellegrini's men need a result, and a tricky away fixture is how they’ll need to get a positive one this midweek.
Team news
For the hosts, Josip Drmic (illness) and Tony Jantschke (leg) are doubts – but could feature at some point during Wednesday night’s clash. Having fractured his eye socket recently, club captain Martin Stranzl has been sidelined until the middle of November, so he’s automatically out of contention. After the surprise resignation of Lucien Favre last weekend, Gladbach have won their last two fixtures since – so they’ll be quietly confident about their chances of adding more misery to the Premier League’s title favourites.
As for City, expect a few alterations – both to the substitutes’ bench and the starting eleven, possibly. Samir Nasri may get an opportunity to start ahead of Jesús Navas, although both are fit, and that’d ultimately be Pellegrini’s decision before kick-off.
In goal, Joe Hart is expected to regain his place after a slight back strain meant he watched on from the substitutes’ bench as Willy Caballero occasionally struggled against the counter-attacking rigours of Tottenham on Saturday.
David Silva was pictured in first-team training this week, but the game will probably be too soon for the silky Spaniard. Fabian Delph (hamstring), Vincent Kompany (calf), Kelechi Iheanacho (groin) and Eliaquim Mangala (muscle) are all sidelined with their respective injuries.
Predicted starting elevens
Gladbach (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Christensen, Dominguez, Wendt, Korb; Stindl, Dahoud, Xhaka; Herrmann, Hazard; Raffael.
City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Sagna, Demichelis, Otamendi, Kolarov; Fernando, Fernandinho; Navas, Sterling, de Bruyne and Aguero.
Key players
Gladbach - Thorgan Hazard: The former Chelsea man established himself as a mainstay within the Gladbach first-team in a loan spell last term, and with opportunities beckoning in Germany, he made the move on a permanent basis from Stamford Bridge. At 22, Eden's younger brother still has plenty of potential to fulfill - not least with his five goals and ten assists tallied in the 2014/15 campaign - plenty more chances created, too. A creative-midfielder by trade, he loves to dribble past players with ease, and plays with no fear; so naturally, City will have to do a good job to keep him relatively muted at Borussia-Park.
Man City - Fernandinho: All things considered, the experienced Brazilian may seem like a surprise inclusion in the 'key players' tag - but it just reiterates how under-appreciated he is at Eastlands. In midfield, he gives the team stability. Making a plethora of interceptions and tackles in each game, he does the dirty work so Yaya Touré can roam forward on the attack. If he has a good game, it makes the more attack-minded players' jobs easier.