Man City vs Luton Prediction and Betting Tips: Back Julian Alvarez to fire on Saturday
Manchester City continue their quest to retain their Premier League title with a home game against Luton Town on Saturday.
The teams have already met twice at Kenilworth Road this season with City winning in both the league and the FA Cup, now they are heavy favourites to pick up another three points this weekend.
The champions are just one point behind both Arsenal and Liverpool with seven matches remaining, while Luton were finally able to snap an 11-game winless run when they beat Bournemouth at home last weekend. The match at the Etihad Stadium kicks off at 3pm.
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This game comes in the middle of the two legs of Man City's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, so they are likely to make changes to their team in order to have their big-hitters as fit as possible for the second leg at the Etihad on Wednesday.
It's unlikely that Phil Foden will be risked after he went off with a knock in Madrid and Kevin De Bruyne could possibly be given more time to recover from the illness that led to him being an unused sub in Spain.
Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, John Stones, and Rodri are also candidates to miss out, giving chances to squad players such as Rico Lewis, Sergio Gomez, Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb to start.
Luton will be without defender Issa Kabore, who is on a year-long loan from City, so is ineligible, while their lengthy injury list includes Mads Andersen, Dan Potts, Jacob Brown, Elijah Adebayo, Chiedozie Ogbene, Amari'i Bell, Marvelous Nakamba, and Albert Sambi Lokonga, while Gabriel Osho is doubtful.
Man City ran riot in the teams' last clash, ending up 6-2 winners in an FA Cup clash in February when Erling Haaland scored five goals, but their first meeting this season had been closer with the champions coming out on top 2-1 in the league in December after Elijah Adebayo had given Town a surprise half-time lead.
Pep Guardiola's team remain unbeaten at home in the league this season with 11 wins and five draws at the Etihad and they have not lost in their last 26 matches overall.
Luton's confidence will have risen with their 2-1 home win over Bournemouth last week after eight defeats and three draws in their previous 11 games.
Man City vs Luton Tips
There have been 17 goals in Man City's three matches since their drab goalless draw with Arsenal and they should continue to entertain when the Hatters visit on Saturday.
Resting some of their big names would likely not have a negative impact on the goal tally as City's fringe players have bundles of talent and have tended to make the most of their limited opportunities.
The Citizens have scored 11 goals and conceded six in their last three games and expecting at least five in this contest does not seem outrageous.
Luton are no strangers to a ding-dong battle themselves, with a 3-2 defeat by Aston Villa and a 4-2 loss to Bournemouth on their record since their cup thrashing by City.
They are capable of contributing to the total having scored in 15 of their last 16 matches, with Arsenal the only team able to keep them out on their recent visit to the Emirates.
With plenty of goals likely to be scored, taking City forward Julian Alvarez to add at least two to his tally of eight league goals this season appeals at 13/4 with BetMGM.
Alvarez played only the final three minutes against Real on Wednesday, so should be in line to start and could be leading the attack if Haaland is not risked.
The Argentinian has scored multiple goals in three different competitions this season, with doubles against Crvena Zvezda in the Champions League, Fluminense in the Club World Cup and Burnley in the Premier League.
All the scoring was over by the time he came on as a sub in the FA Cup rout of the Hatters in February and he would surely relish the chance to get back among the goals in the league.
Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins and Antoine Semenyo of Bournemouth have both notched twice in games against Luton since Haaland's five-goal blast and Alvarez could be the man to fill his boots this time.
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