MAN City get their group campaign up and running with a home match against Borussia Monchengladbach. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) brings the bets.
Manchester City v Borussia Monchengladbach | Wednesday 19:45 | BT Sport
Fourth place finishes for both these sides in their respective leagues last season and Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach get their group stages up and running against each other on Wednesday night.
City arrive in hearty shape after proving themselves too strong for their city rivals United on Saturday and sit at the summit of the English table with 12 points out of 12.
It's early days but it looks like Pep Guardiola has transformed his team from inconsistent slackers to a mentally strong outfit who deserve to be favourites for the title.
It's four wins out of four in the Premier League and two wins out of two in the Champions League after steamrollering Steaua Bucharest in the qualifying round. How long can City maintain this streak?
Bookmakers go as short as 4/9 on them making it seven straight wins under Pep on Tuesday night. In truth, it's hard to crab that assessment with them looking so strong.
Let's look at Gladbach. Fourth in the Bundesliga last season, they had a torrid time away from home with just four wins on their travels from 17 matches. In the Champions League they conceded seven in two matches at Sevilla and Manchester City and only a 0-0 draw in Turin gave them to be something to be proud of on the road.
This season their domestic campaign kicked off with a 2-1 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen but the inevitable kicked back in and they lost their opening away match against Freiburg.
It's certainly an away record with real cause for concern and Man City should be able to take advantage. The sides met at this same stage last season with the English club winning home and away. A repeat this time round would be no surprise.
With Sergio Aguero back from his painful suspension and the intriguing Ilkay Gundogan possibly making his club debut the English side look primed for this.
With Gladbach poor away from home and City looking so exciting just now I have to get with the 11/10 that Guardiola's men win by more than one goal.
Odds on a bulky goals count are just too thin to get involved with so I'll dive into the Correct Score market and back 3-1 and 4-1 wins for Man City. Guardiola's side have conceded in all four of their Premier League matches this season and Gladbach are not shy in front of goal with their last five Champions League games going BTTS.
Best Bets
Manchester City v Borussia Monchengladbach – Manchester City -1 (11/10 Stan James)
Manchester City v Borussia Monchengladbach – Manchester City to win 3-1 (21/2 BetVictor)
Manchester City v Borussia Monchengladbach – Manchester City to win 4-1 (17/1 BetVictor)
