Man City v Borussia Mönchengladbach Tips: Bet on De Bruyne to get on the scoresheet
With two UEFA Champions League last-16 second leg matches on Tuesday evening, Manchester City host Borussia M.Gladbach with an 8pm kick-off at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. Heading into this with a comfortable 2-0 lead, Manchester City are huge favourites and Pep Guardiola will be eager to book his place in the quarter finals of the competition he most greatly desires.
With their Manchester rivals ending the Citizens incredible run of 21 straight wins at the start of the month, they managed to bounce back with impressive 5-2 and 3-0 domestic wins most recently. Nathan Ake has returned to training which means Guardiola and his roulette style team selections has given him a full squad to select from with no known injuries.
Marco Rose’s side enter this crucial tie in dire form failing to register a win in their last eight matches with the most recent being six straight defeats. With Ramy Bensebaini and Christoph Kramer both doubts for this match, Denis Zakaria looks set to slot into central midfield alongside Florian Neahaus and reverting back to a more attacking 4-2-3-1 formation with hopes of clawing back at the current deficit.
Chasing a 2-0 deficit against this Manchester City side is a tall order and I expect frustration to kick in at some point. A team as good as City can often leave players chasing shadows for long periods of the game, finding it extremely difficult to get hold of the ball. In the first leg, Gladbach were penned back for the majority of the game, only registering three shots in the entire match, with only 11% of the action being in Manchester City’s third.
Playing as a central attacking midfielder against this City side often means defending more than normal. The 32 year-old German has committed more fouls than any other player in his side and a total of 33 so far in the Bundesliga averages at 1.90 per 90 minutes. Along with a high number of fouls, he has also managed to pick up 6 bookings in only 17 starts (35%) and priced at a very generous 4/1 (20%) looks great value in a game of this importance.
Kevin De Bruyne was rested at the weekend by Guardiola, with the onus on securing a place in the quarter finals of the Champions League here on Tuesday evening. This season in the Premier League, KDB has registered an expected goals per 90 (xG90) of 0.48 and a total of five goals in his 23 appearances.
Since returning from injury, KDB has scored twice and registered 16 shots in those five matches. The Citizens are as short as 5/2 to score a penalty on Tuesday evening and with KDB on penalty duty, 11/5 to score anytime in the match looks great value.
With the price much shorter for a goal on Paddy Power, I have selected KDB for 2+ shots on target at a much bigger price for the multi. He has registered two shots on target twice in his last three matches and with penalties and all set pieces from shooting distance, it’s a great alternative.
Man City have kept a clean sheet in their last six Champions League outings and look like a well oiled machine on and off the ball. Gladbach's poor results hasn’t been helped by their struggles of finding the back of the net; failing to score in four of their last seven matches. Backing both teams to score NO boosts this treble to a very appealing price that is worth some loose change if you’re feeling lucky!
