It’s a fantastic place for a holiday but there’s some serious business to be done in Miami on Saturday night, when FC Bayern vs Manchester City comes to town.
The sun is shining and the surf is up, but the English and German champions are heading for the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida hoping to get back to winning ways after recent setbacks in the ICC. This is Manchester City’s last chance to get a win in the USA this year while FC Bayern arrives on the back of a limp defeat to Juventus.
Our FC Bayern vs Manchester City predictions are confident we’ll see some flair players and top quality football, all of which will please the Soccer lovers in Miami. But back in Manchester and Munich fans will be keen to see some progress as their domestic title defences are about to get underway.
Talking Points
Pep Guardiola and Niko Kovac are young coaches with a high pedigree, so it’s no wonder they are leading two of the powerhouses of world football.
Guardiola has experience on his side and nothing to prove so, of the two of them, he is likely to be the more relaxed when it comes to losing, at least at this sage of the season. He has given his youngsters two chances to impress in the ICC, and you have to say that, while there is plenty of promise and no little skill, we haven’t seen anything to worry the first picks in Pep’s squad just yet; though they can feel themselves a little unlucky to have lost to a late goal against Liverpool.
Remember, this is a record breaking group of players, the first to reach 100 points in the Premier League, with the biggest winning margin, 19 points, and the most wins, 32, in an English top flight season. I could go on but Pep will be the first to admit that is now history.
He’s already strengthened his hand with the recruitment of Riyad Mahrez, and the former Leicester man has show some good touches, and now Bernardo Silva has joined the squad after starring for Portugal at the World Cup and he is likely to feature. As is Oleksandr Zinchenko, despite the wingback being linked with a move to Premier League new boys Wolves or Fulham.
Aymeric Laporte will probably line up alongside Zinchenko at the start of what could be a big season for the £57m defender. He’s still pondering whether to opt to play international football for Spain after being left out of Didier Deschamps’ World Cup winning squad. Either way he’ll need to force his way into Guardiola’s plans to secure a starting place in the Champions’ first choice team.
This will be another stiff test for City, against a Bayern side which has played with a more experienced line-up in its two games so far. And there’s also been a chance for fringe players to impress the new boss. Portugal attacking midfielder Renato Sanches scored in the opener, and that will do his chances the world of good after a disastrous loan spell at Swansea, which ended with the welsh side being relegated from the EPL.
Franck Ribery looked the most likely to score in the defeat to Juventus and he is likely to line up again, alongside big names including David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Sandro Wagner. Kovac’s team has seemed to build up more of an understanding than City’s so far and look like their pre-season is a step or two ahead.
But they’ll need to defend better than they did when Juventus’ Andrea Favilli put them to the sword.
History
Despite winning their sixth successive Bundesliga with time to spare, Bayern didn’t enjoy a particularly memorable end to last season, going out of the Champions League to eventual winners Real Madrid, and famously losing the DFB Cup Final to Kovac’s Eintracht Frankfurt 3-1.
In contrast there were wild celebrations in the blue half of Manchester, as Pep’s team waited until the last game of the season to reach the magical 100 points when Gabriel Jesus netted a late winner at Southampton.
Bayern has had a better ICC campaign with that impressive win over PSG, but I’m sure Manchester City won’t be keen to leave the ICC without a single point.
They need to buck a trend though as Bayern has won the past two friendlies between the sides, 1-0 and 2-1.
In competitive fixtures it’s pretty much even with three wins each in the Champions League since 2011.
What are the odds?
So let’s take a look at the SBOBET odds to see if we can find some value in this fascinating clash. Bayern’s more experienced team is favourite to win, and is marginally odds on at 1.97, with the Sky Blues way out at 3.45 and the draw at 3.55.
The handicap betting market sees a half goal margin, with the Bundesliga giants at 2.00 with a -0.50 handicap and City slightly shorter at 1.92 with that start.
Five of Bayern’s last six games have featured three goals or more, while the Sky Blues always have goals in them so a bet on over 3.00 goals at 1.92 could make sense; if not then under 3.00 is at odds of 1.98.
It’s certainly going to be a great watch; and you can get all the FC Bayern vs Manchester City news right here at SBOBET.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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