AS Monaco will host Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, eager to return to winning ways.

The last time these two sides met, AS Monaco picked up a 3-1 win at home vs Manchester City in 2017. However, the Citizens have changed drastically since then, and they are a powerhouse in Europe now. The visitors will look to grind out a positive result here after starting their Champions League campaign positively.

They managed to pick up a comfortable victory over Italian champion Napoli, and they will certainly be favourites to get a good result here.

On the other hand, Monaco have been quite inconsistent this season. They have three wins and three defeats from the last six matches. They will need to raise their performance levels in order to stand a chance of getting something out of this game. On paper, Manchester City had a better team, and it will be interesting to see if they manage to come out on top.

Team News and Tactics

Monaco

The home team will be without Denis Zakaria, Aladji Bamba, Lamine Camara and Lukas Hradecky.

They are likely to shape up in a 3-5-2 formation with Philipp Kohn in goal.

In the back, Thilo Kehrer will start alongside Eric Dier and Christian Mawissa. Vanderson and Caio Henrique will start as the wingbacks. They will look to contribute at both ends of the pitch.

Takumi Minamino will add creativity to the side from the midfield. Jordan Teze and Mamdou Coulibaly will add defensive, cover and control alongside him.

Mika Biereth and Folarin Balogun will lead the line for the home team here.

Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Kohn; Kehrer, Dier, Mawissa; Vanderson, Minamino, Teze, Coulibaly, Henrique; Biereth, Balogun

Manchester City

Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri are ruled out with injuries.

Manchester City will shape up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal.

Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly will start as the full-backs. They will look to help the team going forward and protect the central defenders as well. Ruben Dias will start as the central defender alongside Josko Gvardiol.

Nico Gonzalez will look to act as the anchor in the midfield. He will look to control the tempo of the game from the deep.

Tijjani Reijnders and Phil Foden will act as the advanced central midfielders, and they will look to add creativity and control to the side.

Savinho and Jeremy Doku will start on the flanks. They will look to add pace, flair, and unpredictability to the Manchester City attack.

Erling Haaland will lead the line for the away team.

Probable Lineup (4-1-4-1): Donnarumma; Nunez, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez; Savinho, Reijnders, Foden, Doku; Haaland

Key Stats

• 12 goals have been scored in the last two meetings between Monaco and Manchester City.
• Monaco have lost three of the last six matches in all competitions.
• Manchester City are unbeaten in the last five matches in all competitions.
• Both teams have scored in each of the last two meetings between the two teams.

Player to watch out for

Erling Haaland

The Norwegian International striker is our key player to watch out for. He has been very impressive for Manchester City this season, and he will look to find the net again as well.

Monaco can be quite inconsistent defensively, and Haaland has the quality to punish them in the attack. He will look to create opportunities for his teammates and find the back of the net. He will look to continue his impressive start to the season with a goal-scoring performance here.

Prediction

Monaco 1-3 Manchester City

Neither side are defensive in their approach, and this is likely to be an open game with plenty of opportunities for both sides.

Manchester City have more quality going forward, and they should be able to find the back of the net more than once. Monaco are likely to be let down by their defensive unit. A comfortable victory for Manchester City is on the cards away from home.