Champions League: Man City Seek to Crush Crumbling Sevilla

Sevilla FC vs Manchester City

Manchester City are set to begin their new Champions League campaign in Spain as they visit Sevilla in a Group G clash.

With prolific Champions League marksman Erling Haaland in fine form, City are hoping this will finally be the year they are crowned European champions.

And the Champions League 2022 betting odds will favour Pep Guardiola’s side to get off to a winning start against Sevilla, who are struggling mightily this season. The Rojiblancos remain winless in La Liga and recently suffered a 3-0 hammering at home at the hands of Barcelona.

Talking Points

Sevilla creeping closer to crisis mode

It has been a deeply concerning start to the season for Sevilla. They are still without a win in their first four La Liga matches, with three defeats and a draw.

The Rojiblancos suffered their heaviest defeat of the season to date as they were smashed 3-0 by Barcelona over the weekend, heaping more pressure on head coach Julen Lopetegui.

As expected, Lopetegui tried to shake things up as he brought both Youssef En-Nesyri and Isco into the starting lineup in place of Rafa Mir and Papu Gomez. But after a promising start, things quickly fell apart as they fell to another defeat.

Perhaps the biggest issue with Sevilla at the moment is that the new-look defence that had lost both Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos in the summer continues to struggle.

20-year-old centre-back Tanguy Nianzou has had a difficult start to life in Sevilla. Meanwhile, Lopetegui started defensive midfielder Fernando at the back in place of the injured Karim Rekic, but they remain unable to keep things tight at the back.

It remains to be seen what other changes Lopetegui will make for the visit of Manchester City. With his side’s current defensive concerns, he may opt to play a much more cautious formation to avoid getting humiliated at home.

Haaland already a big hit at City

After scoring at least three goals in their first five Premier League games – including 10 in their last two – Manchester City were finally kept in check by Aston Villa, who held the English champions to a 1-1 draw over the weekend.

Once again, City absolutely dominated the match as they controlled 72 per cent of possession and took the lead through Erling Haaland. But they missed their chances to put the game away, as well as their chance to go back to the top of the Premier League table.

Pep Guardiola will be pleased with the excellent early-season form of Haaland, though. The 22-year-old’s phenomenal talent is there for all to see as he leads the Premier League with 10 goals in six games, including seven in his last three.

And Haaland will be hungry to deliver more Champions League 2022 highlights; he has a sensational strike rate of 23 goals in 19 games in the competition.

Meanwhile, despite already conceding six goals this season, Guardiola’s side is playing quite well defensively. They have allowed just 1.83 shots on target per 90 minutes, which is by far the lowest in the league.

Guardiola has made surprisingly few changes to his starting lineup early in the season, although that is in part due to the recent injuries in his squad. Still, look for Pep to rotate against Sevilla, especially with a big Premier League match against Tottenham coming up on the weekend.

History

Manchester City and Sevilla have met just twice before in the UEFA Champions League. Those came during the group stage of the 2015-16 season.

The Cityzens won both matches. After a 2-1 win at home thanks to a stoppage-time Kevin De Bruyne winner, they were much more comfortable in Seville, where they rolled to a 3-1 victory.

Erling Haaland also faced Sevilla in the 2021-22 Champions League Round of 16 during his time with Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian was utterly dominant as he scored four goals.

Betting Tip

SBOTOP odds have Manchester City installed as massive 1.37 favourites to win away at Sevilla, who are priced at 7.80 to put an end to their recent slump. A draw is 4.70.

There’s a very real possibility that in their desperation to avoid getting hammered once again at home, Sevilla might decide to go overly defensive against City. But even if they do go defensive, Man City – with an in-form Haaland banging in the goals – are more than capable of unlocking what has been a fairly flimsy backline en route to another comfortable Champions League win.

 

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