We have reached the quarter-final stage of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League. The final match to be played, which will take place on the 15th of August, is between Manchester City and Lyon. The game will take place at a neutral venue, the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon and will contested over one match rather than two legs.
Manchester City come into the match having seen off the challenge of Real Madrid in the Round of 16. The Citizens picked up an excellent 2-1 victory at the Santiago Beranbeu in the first leg of the tie and finish the job by beating the Spanish champions by the same scoreline at home.
Pep Guardiola will be extremely disappointed to have lost the Premier League title this season and to have tasted defeat in the FA Cup final against Arsenal. However, their Champions League record this season has been excellent and Manchester City are undefeated in their last 9 Champions League matches. In fact, they have lost only one of their 17 most recent games in the competition.
Manchester City have had little trouble in scoring goals in the Champions League this season and trends show they have managed to find the back of the net at least twice in each of their last 3 matches in the competition. Manchester City have scored 2 or more goals in 7 of their last 9 Champions League games but have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 6.
Lyon caused a shock when they defeated Juventus in the Round of 16. The French club picked up a good 1-0 victory at home, keeping an important clean sheet. They then opened the scoring in the return leg in Turin and despite going on to concede 2 goals to lose the match, Lyon went through on the away goals rule.
With the Ligue 1 season ending early due to COVID-19, Lyon finished in a disappointing 7th place and will want to make up for that by doing well in the Champions League. However, they have won only one of their last 4 matches in the competition and that was the home victory against Juventus. Lyon know how to find the back of the net but have been struggling to keep the ball out of their own goal.
Trends show both teams have scored in 4 of their last 6 Champions League matches and Lyon have kept just one clean sheet in their last 6 games in the competition.
Team news and Manchester City look set to be without striker Sergio Agüero who is injured. That means Gabriel Jesus should be assured of his place up-front and Manchester City will be close to full strength.
Lyon have no injury or suspension concerns ahead of this game. They are likely to go with the same team that started the match against Juventus, with former Manchester United man, Memphis Depay in attack.
Putting in the work 👊🔵 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/hsI6StNULo— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 11, 2020
Putting in the work 👊🔵 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klD5re pic.twitter.com/hsI6StNULo
This could be a very entertaining game to watch and Lyon will cause the Manchester City defence plenty of problems. However, there is no doubt the Premier League club are the favourites to win this game and could progress to the semi-final by winning with both teams scoring.