Low Odds, High Odds: UCL RO16 - 9/3/22

On Wednesday night, Manchester City hosts Sporting Lisbon at the Etihad Stadium in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday.

City come into this match with a five-goal lead having thumped Sporting 5-0 at the Jose Alvalade Stadium as Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva (2), Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling all got on the scoresheet.

A player that has been in superb form for the Citizens this season is Joao Cancelo, as the 27-year-old who started his career at Sporting’s rivals, Benfica, has created eight assists across all competitions for his side.

Pep Guardiola’s side will come into this match full of confidence having hammered Sporting away from home in the first leg and will be expected to see out the tie in a professional manner due to the high standards that the Spaniard sets.

At the weekend, City hammered local rivals Manchester United 4-1, having led 2-1 at half-time following a brace by Kevin De Bruyne on either side of Jadon Sancho’s equaliser, before steamrolling Ralf Rangnick’s men in the second-half as a Riyad Mahrez double added to an emphatic scoreline.

Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus will be hoping to start this match having not featured on Sunday.

The 24-year-old has a good record in this season’s Champions League, having scored three goals and one assist in four appearances against the likes of RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and PSG.

The other match on Wednesday is arguably the tie of the round, as Real Madrid and PSG go head to head at the Santiago Bernabeu in a battle for a place in the quarter-finals.

PSG currently hold the lead in the tie having beaten Real 1-0 at the Parc des Princes in the first-leg as Kylian Mbappe scored a second-half stoppage-time winner.

A player that will be desperate to erase the first-leg from his mind is Lionel Messi, as the Argentinian had a penalty saved by Thibaut Courtois which looked costly until his teammates’ goal.

Messi has a sensational record against Los Blancos and will be determined to replicate this once again with his former Barcelona roots. The 34-year-old managed 26 goals and 14 assists in 45 matches against Real in his time at the Nou Camp and is priced at 12/1 to score from outside the box against them on Wednesday night.

A player who will be determined to perform against Real once again is Mbappe, who took his Champions League goal tally to five goals and six assists in seven appearances this campaign.

The 23-year-old has managed to fire in 24 goals and create 17 assists in 34 matches for Mauricio Pochettino’s men this campaign and even managed to score the last time he played at the Santiago Bernabeu back in November 2019 as the sides drew 2-2.

PSG will likely opt for a more counter-attacking style in Madrid, with Neymar, Mbappe and Messi up-front, with Real desperately needing to take the game to them. This could play into the Parisian’s hands, hence why a 2-1 scoreline could be a likely one.