Manchester City vs. Paris St Germain semi-final second leg preview
Manchester City vs. Paris St Germain – The Emirates stadium – Tuesday, 4 May 2021 – 20:00 BST
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City go into the second leg with a great advantage of having scored two away goals in their 1-2 win over Paris Saint German in the first leg clash in France last week.
A dominating PSG looked to be on their way when they found an early goal through a Marquinhos header with just 15 minutes of play gone. City found their bearings in the second half, pulling off a critical win through brilliant goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez late on.
City will be going into the Tuesday night’s game with a 0-2 win over Crystal Palace and are within kissing distance of winning the Premier League crown. PSG finished the week with a 2-1 win over FC Lens and are a point behind Ligue 1 leaders Lille.
Manchester City form guide: W/W/W/W/L/W
Paris St Germain form guide: Form: L/W/W/W/L/W
For a change, Guardiola has a fully fit squad at his disposal with the likes of injury-prone Sergio Aguero and Oleksandr Zinchenko pushing for starts. For PSG, defensive midfielder Idrissa Gueye is out, being red-carded in the first leg while left-back Juan Bernat is ruled out through injury.
But what is giving coach Mauricio Pochettino sleepless nights is the fitness of his star forward Kylian Mbappe after the young Frenchman missed the 2-1 win over Lens owing to a calf sprain. In case Mbappe is ruled out, Argentine Mauro Icardi could lead the attack in a lone striker’s role with Angel Di Maria, Marco Veratti and Neymar playing behind him.
Manchester City probable starting XI: Ederson (goal); Walker, Stones, Rúben Dias, João Cancelo; Rodri, Gündoğan; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Foden; Bernardo Silva/Aguero
PSG probable starting XI: Navas (goal); Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Diallo; Danilo, Paredes; Di María, Verratti, Neymar; Mbappé/Icardi
The Parisiennes have been superb on their travels, beating the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich in vital away games, while maintaining a winning a run of 10 matches on trot outside of Parc de Princes. The potential absence of Kylian Mbappe, the main architect of these wins, could be a huge blow to PSG’s European aspirations on Tuesday.
In such an event, the likes of Neymar, Maria and Icardi will have to put their best forward against a City side who are already smelling the Champions League trophy and are favourites to progress on May 4th.
Betting odds
Manchester City to qualify: 1/8
PSG to qualify: 1/8
Correct score odds
Man City 2-1: 15/2 (predicted scoreline)
Draw 1-1: 8/1 (probable scoreline)
Man City 2-0: 17/2
Draw 2-2: 14/1
PSG 2-1: 12/1
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