3 reasons Manchester City will win this year’s Champions League

With threats throughout their midfield and attack, from the dynamic wing play of Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane to the surging creativity of Kevin De Bruyne and ruthless finishing of Sergio Aguero, they’re proving impossible to contain.

Pep’s UCL heritage coming to the fore

Manchester City only made it to the last 16 of the competition in 2016-17, following an away-goals exit to Monaco. But that was an exception to the rule as far as Guardiola is concerned.

Their boss knows exactly what it takes to succeed in this competition. Not only has he won the competition twice as manager with Barcelona, he also reached the Semi-Finals of the tournament in seven consecutive seasons as a manager – first with Blaugrana, and then Bayern Munich.

City fans will be encouraged by the fact the Spaniard’s biggest triumph came with a side very much like their own. Pep’s continent-conquering Barca side dominated the UCL with a 4-3-3 setup based on pacy wide forwards – the exact set-up the Sky Blues went with for the recent victories over Napoli and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The North-West giants are also playing a similar style of possession-based attacking football to that Barca side – with the same focus on neat passing interchanges. Guardiola knows how to lead a side in this mould to glory, and there’s every reason to think he’ll do so once again.

Last year’s UCL powers stuttering

As it stands, none of last year’s Champions League Semi-Finalists are top of their UCL group or their domestic league. Real Madrid and Juventus are second in their groups, while Atletico Madrid and Monaco are virtually certain to be eliminated at this stage.

That drop off in quality from the competition’s big powers is almost unheard of, and means this is the ideal opportunity for the Citizens to impose themselves on the competition.

In terms of the other sides who are shining thus far, City have the tools to beat them. Liverpool are top of Group E, but suffered a 5-0 mauling at the Etihad last month.

Meanwhile, Pep showed he can get the measure of his old club Barcelona last season, with a far less impressive City side still running out easy 3-1 winners against the Spanish heavyweights in Manchester.

And his intimate knowledge of Bayern Munich’s squad could also prove a key factor in the Sky Blues’ favour if the sides meet.

Next up for Man City is a chance to continue their dominance at the top of the Premier League table, with 4/9 for the hosts to beat Arsenal in M11.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing