Manchester City vs Celtic: Preview and Prediction

Manchester City vs Celtic
UEFA Champions League – Group C
Date: Tuesday, 6th December 2016.
Kick-off at 19:45 UK.
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

The final positions for all four teams in the Group C of the UEFA Champions League has been already confirmed after matchday 5. Barcelona have won the group with 12 points and will be joined by Manchester City with 8 points. The Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach qualified for the Europa League, while Celtic are eliminated. As a result, the matchday 6 offers the managers the luxury of resting their key players to protect from injuries and possible bans.

Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw by Monchengladbach on matchday 5, which confirmed Barcelona are group winners due to their 2-0 away win at Celtic. While Gladbach with 5 points is guaranteed a place in Europa League. While Celtic with 2 points cannot finish third even with a win against Manchester City due to an inferior head-to-head record against Gladbach. The same can be said about the German side, as they lost 4-1 on matchday 1 to Pep Guardiola’s team and they cannot be second if they finish with same points as the Premier League side.

Manchester City vs Celtic: Head-to-Head Stats

The 3-3 thriller on matchday 2 at Glasgow is the lone competitive meeting between Manchester City and Celtic. Raheem Sterling scored on both end, first an own goal and later the equalizer within 7 minutes. Moussa Dembele scored the other two goals for Celtic, while Nolito and Fernandinho found the back of the net for City.

The only other official meeting between the two sides is a friendly at Manchester on 2009 which was won by City by a 2-1 margin. Manchester City haven’t played against any other Scottish sides in a UEFA competition.

While Celtic have played against English Premier League sides on 19 occasions and they hold a moderate record of 7 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. They also managed 3 wins and 2 draws from their 9 trips to England, losing 4 times.

Manchester City vs Celtic: Prediction

Manchester City will be keen to bounce back from the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea on the weekend, while also keen to maintain their unbeaten record at home in this season’s Champions League. Pep Gaurdiola’ side has been off-colour lately, but they do have a chance to gain some confidence from this fixture with a win as Celtic are one of the worst away sides in the Champions League. No surprises are expected here as in the first leg at Glasgow, City to win is a straight pick for this fixture.