The champions of the Champions League are back in action this Tuesday as Manchester City play hosts to Red Star Belgrade in their first game back on the continental scene after winning their first-ever title.
Pep Guardiola finally managed to get his hands back on the Champions League last season for what was his third time doing so after two successful years with Barcelona.
Causing problems all afternoon! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/FjU2xl6Nlw— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 17, 2023
Causing problems all afternoon! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/FjU2xl6Nlw
In the final last year, his men narrowly defeated Inter Milan with a finish from Rodri in the second half.
So far in the Premier League, it’s been a perfect start for City and in reality, there’s no reason to suggest they won’t go on and win a third title in a row.
Last time out, the club went 1-0 down to West Ham United in London but clawed their way back into the game with finishes from Jeremy Doku for his first City goal and another goal from Erling Haaland - the Norwegian now already has seven Premier League goals in just five games.
Haaland was also the top scorer in the Champions League last time out, netting 12 goals along the way to the final, including a stunning five-goal showing against RB Leipzig in a 7-0 win.
There are some injury concerns for Guardiola in this one, as Kevin De Bruyne is going to be out until at least January and misses the entire group stage due to his hamstring injury.
Mateo Kovacic has started life well in City colours but he is injured for this one, while John Stones and Jack Grealish are not ready to return either, so Doku likely starts again with Nathan Ake in defence alongside Ruben Dias.
As for Red Star, they head into this one third in the Serbian SuperLiga after losing two games from the first seven matches.
Last season, the Serbian giants didn't lose a single game from the 37 league matches and managed to win 30 of them in what was one of their best-ever league triumphs.
On the other hand, they have still managed to score 21 goals already from the seven matches, and they have scored at least one goal in all their games so far.
Nevertheless, it’s likely going to be a comfortable victory for City and with them at home, there could be a case of many goals going in for the Serbian side. Forebet predicts a City win and over 2.5 goals.