The relentless onslaught of fixtures continues for Manchester City this week as they host Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon at the Etihad Stadium. To be fair, this second leg is just a mere formality. Manchester City went to Portugal a fortnight ago and absolutely walloped Leões 5-0.
A first-half brace from Portuguese international Bernardo Silva, coupled with goals from Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez, saw the tie over at halftime when the rampaging English side already held a 4-0 lead. Raheem Sterling’s 58th-minute goal made it five and killed off the first knockout round tie.
City has made no secret of their desire to get their hands on the European Cup. After falling agonizingly short last season, Pep Guardiola’s men will not want to leave anything to chance this time. Whereas lesser teams might take their foot off the gas with such a huge first-leg advantage, that simply won’t happen here.
Expect more goals and professional performances as the Sky Blues look to assure their spot in the final 8 of this season’s Champions League.
Manchester City vs Sporting CP FYIs
When is it? Wednesday, 9 March 2022 8 PM
Where is it? Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Who’s in form? Man City (WLWWW) Sporting (WWWLL)
What are the odds? Man City (-700) Sporting (+1500) Draw (+850)
SUSPENSIONS
With all this in mind, let’s look at who may sit this fixture out for Manchester City.
First is Kyle Walker. He will serve the second match of his three-match ban for receiving a straight red card on matchday six against RB Leipzig. The Englishman has been in and out of the team in recent months and considering the state of the tie; I don’t expect him to be missed here.
There is also the case of Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian superstar is in danger of being suspended for the quarterfinals if he picks up a yellow card in this fixture, so I expect him to be rested to avoid the risk of that happening.
INJURIES
Ruben Dias is a significant absence. City has ruled the Portuguese international out for a least a month with a hamstring injury. He is easily the best center-back City have at their disposal and will be hugely missed. Expect either John Stones or Nathan Ake to start in his absence.
Cole Palmer might have expected a rare start in this one.
Unfortunately, the foot injury that has seen him miss many fixtures recently is expected to rule him out of the running to start in this one.
I can say the same for USMNT international Zack Steffen. Personally, I would have thought he’d get a run in what is essentially a dead rubber. That won’t be the case, however, as the backup goalie is still suffering from an unspecified back injury.
Even with a couple of significant outs, Pep Guardiola still has a roster available to him that should make for an uncomfortable evening for the Portuguese side.
Is the 2021/22 season the season that the noisy neighbors get the Champions League monkey off their back?
