SCHALKE 04:
Keeping their hopes alive in the European championship, Manchester City will visit Veltins-Arena for the first leg of their Champions League to clash with Schalke 04 on Wednesday night. The German side is having little trouble holding down on the top two spots of Group D. They have made it through to the first knockout round but as usual they fail to proceed even further. They are without any wins in the last month and still, they are struggling to avoid any drop as they are just two places above the elimination zone. Schalke has scored just six goals in the group stages which the lowest tally among the 16 clubs left in the competition and it is only due to the lack of attacking finish, where Man City is already expertise in.
MANCHESTER CITY:
After dispersing Newport County by 4-1 during the FA Cup Fifth round on Saturday, Manchester City has kept their hopes alive and growing even stronger to stand unbeaten in the coming fixtures. Pep Guardiola’s men have responded their defeat to Crystal Palace and Leicester City in a ruthless manner. Despite some countless defeats, Manchester City are well positioned to achieve something that no other English club has managed. The EFL Cup final clash with Chelsea next week offers the reigning English champions a chance to tick off one of those trophies, but Guardiola is not the type of person to take his eye off the ball for a second. The biggest priority right now is Wednesday’s trip to Schalke, with City being given the chance to take a big step towards reaching the last eight. Guardiola is all set to teach his men lessons of reaching the top spot before the final face-off.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS:
Schalke 04: Fahrmann; Caligiuri, Sane, Nastasic, Oczipka; Bentaleb, Rudy; Uth, McKennie, Konoplyanka; Burgstaller.
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Fernandinho, D.Silva; Bernardo, Aguero, Sterling.
VENUE:
Place: Veltins-Arena.
Time: 20:00 UK
PLAYERZPOT PREDICTION:
Schalke 04 is a weak component for Manchester City and is likely to struggle during the match as the team lacks crisp attacking skills.
SCORE PREDICTIONS:
Manchester City 3-0 Schalke 04
