Following a comfortable victory against Norwich City in the weekend, Manchester City will travel to Lisbon to encounter Sporting CP on Tuesday night in the Champions League round of 16 fixture.
Pep Guardiola made a few changes in midweek but it was enough to come away victorious against the Canaries by 4-0. Raheem Sterling scored a perfect hat-trick and Phil Foden scored the other goal.
Meanwhile, the Citizens reached the knock-out stage of Europe’s elite club competition by overcoming the challenges of Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge in the group stage. Guardiola’s side topped the group therefore, they will have the advantage to play the second leg at home.
Manchester City form (all competitions):
W-W-D-W-W-W
On the other hand, Sporting CP had a much difficult weekend as they only managed to come away with one point against FC Porto in the race for Primeira Liga. The game ended 2-2 and it was an extremely eventful game as two Sporting players were shown red cards, while Pepe was given the marching order for Porto.
The Lions were in the same group with Ajax and Borussia Dortmund. The Eredivisie club won the group and the reigning Portuguese champions finished second and Dortmund were relegated to the Europa League.
Sporting Lisbon form (all competitions):
L-W-W-W-W-D
Sporting CP vs Manchester City team news:
The Portuguese star Pedro Goncalves is in doubt ahead of this encounter. But the team management is hopeful that the youngster could be fit enough to feature in this game. Ruben Amorim uses the 3-4-2-1 formation and it won’t be any different this time either.
Sporting Lisbon possible starting lineup(3-4-2-1):
Adan; Inacio, Coates, Feddal; Porro, Nunes, Palhinha, Reis; Sarabia, Paulinho, Goncalves
On the other hand, Kyle Walker will be out due to suspension, while Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish are injury doubts ahead of the game. Guardiola rested Kevin De Bruyne, Joao Cancelo and Rodrigo Hernández ahead of the game and they will also return to the starting eleven on Tuesday.
Manchester City possible starting lineup(4-3-3):
Ederson; Stones, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Foden, Sterling
Sporting CP 0-2 Manchester City:
Manchester City are enjoying a stellar campaign and showing great football along with solid defensively. So, it will be very difficult for the hosts to get past the challenge of the Citizens in this two-legged tie.
As featured on ManCityNews.comFor more football updates, make sure to follow us on: