Slovan Bratislava vs. Manchester City: Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

On Tuesday night, Slovan Bratislava, making their Champions League debut, will host Manchester City, making their first-ever trip to Slovakia.

Over the weekend, Pep Guardiola's squad lost first place in their domestic league, continuing an unusual streak of just one victory in four games.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Anthony Gordon's second-half penalty equalized Josko Gvardiol's opening, and Manchester City's life without Rodri started with Saturday's 1-1 draw at Newcastle United.

Since Guardiola's team needed an injury-time goal to tie Arsenal and were held scoreless by Inter Milan on Champions League matchday one, City's sole victory in their previous four matches came against second-tier Watford in the EFL Cup last week.

Even though City are now in second place in the Premier League after Liverpool's victory later on Saturday, there's no reason to be worried because they have only lost once in 90 minutes since December.

As a heavy favorite in this match, City can tie Manchester United's 25-game winning streak from 2007 to 2009 for the longest undefeated streak in European Cup and Champions League history if they manage to avoid loss again.

After getting shut out at home by Inter in their league phase opening, City should be able to get their campaign rolling here. The 2023 champions are aiming to reclaim the trophy from Real Madrid.

This matchup might witness the widest financial gap between the two clubs in the league campaign regarding the worth and cost of creating each squad.

According to Transfermarkt, the hosts have almost no chance of breaking their five-game losing streak against English clubs, given that Man City is valued at £1.04 billion and Slovan Bratislava's team at just £24 million.

Their first Champions League match, a 5-1 loss against Celtic, served as a harsh wake-up call for manager Vladimir Weiss two weeks ago, and they have never faced a more formidable opponent since.

Since their humiliating loss in Glasgow, Slovan has won its last three home games and scored twelve goals.

Weiss's squad currently holds the Slovak first division, but despite winning all four of their home matches on the continent this season, they face a more challenging battle on the European stage.

This match and their trips to Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid will not determine whether they become the first Slovak club to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals. Instead, Weiss will focus on the games against Girona, Dinamo Zagreb, and Stuttgart to get the nine points needed to advance.

Slovan Bratislava x Manchester City Team News

The main story of the previous week was Rodri's knee injury against Arsenal. The club has announced that he tore his ACL in the first half of last week's match and will be out for the remainder of the season.

In Mateo Kovacic's absence, Rico Lewis filled in for Newcastle in midfield, but Guardiola also has Matheus Nunes available.

Phil Foden, who was benched against Newcastle but might get his second start of the season, could start in place of Kevin De Bruyne, who likewise did not travel to the North East and is likely to be started elsewhere.

Additionally, Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb are both out with injuries. On the other hand, Jeremy Doku and Savinho, who played on the bench on Saturday, may get a chance to start tonight.

Despite this game being so close, Slovan played at full strength over the weekend, so we should expect only a few changes to the starting eleven.

While Lukas Pauschek is out with an injury, Danylo Ignatenko returned from a brief absence as a substitute in the weekend's win over Michalovce. Kevin Wimmer may keep his center-back starting position, with Jurij Medvedev at full-back. Kenan Bajric is questionable after sitting out the entire match.

Despite Slovan's expected defensive stance, Marko Tolic—who will play behind David Strelec, the team's lone striker—should be Man City's most impactful player if they break through.

Our Predictions

Over 5.5 goals @ 3.55 on Sky247.ng

Despite their lackluster recent play, City hopes to get close to their record European win of 7-0 and further demonstrate the apparent quality difference between the two teams.

Slovan is in for a rough ride in his home Champions League debut. After letting in five goals against Celtic, another embarrassing result could be on the horizon against ruthless Manchester City.

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