Manchester City will travel to Portugal this Tuesday to face Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their round of 16 UCL fixture.
Venue: Estádio José Alvalade (Lisbon)
Key Statistics
Sporting Lisbon have conceded more UCL goals (12) than any other side still left in the competition.
The hosts have lost only one of their last five UCL home matches (W3, D1).
Sporting Lisbon are contesting their first UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockout stage tie since 2008/09.
Sporting’s Pablo Sarabia has seven-goal contributions across his last five competitive appearances (G4, A3).
Manchester City have progressed through this round in each of the last five years.
The visitors have already conceded ten goals in this year’s UCL- that’s five more than they allowed in all UCL matches leading to last season’s final.
Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in their last 12 games in all competitions (W11, D1).
Head to head
In two competitive meetings between both sides, both sides have one win each.
Latest performances in all competitions
Sporting: D-W-W-W-W
Man City: W-W-W-D-W
Sporting Lisbon
Sporting Lisbon will attempt to do the impossible when they host in-form Manchester City on Tuesday,
The hosts are playing in their first UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockout stage tie in 14 seasons and will be desperate to win their first game back at this stage of the tournament.
They booked their place in this round by finishing second, level on points with Dortmund, but narrowly progressing because they had a better head-to-head. With just nine points from their group games (W3, D3), they are one of the sides with the lowest point tally to qualify for this round- Only Atletico Madrid (7) and Benfica (8) took fewer points.
The Portuguese side is one of the weakest teams left in the tournament. They are also the side with the most goals conceded (12) currently left in the tournament.
However, for all their weakness and poor record, they come into this tie on a five-game unbeaten run, winning four of those games while scoring two goals in eight of their last ten games. Given their recent form, they will fancy their chances of getting a good result against City.
Possible Sporting starting line-up
Antonio Adan, Goncalo Inacio, Sebastian Coates, Zouhair Feddal, Ricardo Esgaio, Daniel Braganca, Joao Palhinha, Ruben Vinagre, Pablo Sarabia, Nuno Santos, Islam Slimani.
Injured: Pedro Goncalves
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Manchester City
After a routine 4-0 win over Norwich in the PL, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City turn their attention to the Champions League knockout stages where they will look, to begin with a win.
The visitors are still aiming for their first UCL title and will come into this tie desperate to put in a big show. They qualified for this round of the tournament by finishing top of their group, with 12 points (W4, L2), one point ahead of PSG.
They are currently on a 12 game unbeaten run in all competitions. Their last loss was in this competition – a 2-1 loss to RB Leipzig in the last game of the group stage round.
They are the favourites to progress to the next round as they have progressed through this round in each of the last five years.
Possible Man City starting line-up
Ederson Moraes, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Gabriel Jesus
Suspended: Kyle Walker
Prediction
Sporting 1-2 Man City
