Basel VS Manchester City Match Prediction

FC Basel and Manchester City have never previously met in a competitive fixture.

%HEAD-TO-HEAD-STATS-BANNER%

FC Basel vs Manchester City Betting Tips

Manchester City issued another big statement of intent on Saturday, bouncing back from their rare dropped points at Burnley by thrashing Leicester City.

Now, attention turns back to Europe - and their trip to Basel - who also bounced back to winning ways on Saturday.

They key battle will be City's attack - the highest scoring in the English Premier League - against Basel's defence, who have conceded less than any other Swiss Super League team.

And with Sergio Aguero in such brilliant goalscoring form, it will be the Argentinean expected to triumph in that battle - particularly with fresh again Kevin de Bruyne also in superb form behind him.

Basel chopped and changed their squad options in January, and lost their first game back after the winning break - both signs of vulnerability for City to exploit.

Pep Guardiola's side exited at the last-16 stage when they faced Monaco last year, and Basel have already showed by beating Man United they will be no pushovers.

But City stand on the brink of history, and are in the form of their lives. They should be able to bag a win and put themselves in the best position ahead of the second leg.

FC Basel vs Manchester City Recommended bets with odds

Manchester City are just 4/11 with Bet365 to win on Tuesday night, compared with the best price of 10/1 on their Swiss hosts.

Given how often City have conceded one goal this season however, it may be a better bet to combine it with both teams to score - City win and BTTS will return 15/8 with Bet365, Betfair and William Hill.

Along similar lines, a City win and over 2.5 goals is 13/15 with Ladbrokes.

Unsurprisingly, Sergio Aguero is odds-on to score at anytime - he is 4/5 with Ladbrokes and William Hill.

FC Basel vs Manchester City Prediction

Basel boast a good record against English opposition, but their solid defensive record will be put to the test by Manchester City's free-scoring attack on Tuesday, and it is the visitors who can put themselves in a great position ahead of the second leg.

Correct Score Prediction: FC Basel 1-2 Manchester City

Team News

There was plenty of movement in and out of FC Basel during the January transfer window, and Fabian Frei, Valentin Stocker, Samuele Campo and Leo Lacroix have all made their first appearances since Christmas. Germanp Vailati and Luca Zuffi are out injured.

Key Players

Captain Marek Suchy is at the heart of a defence which has conceded just 17 goals in their 21 league games this season. At the other end of the pitch, Ricky van Wolfswinkel will have scored more than his joint-top eight so far this season had it not been for injury which saw him miss a chunk of the autumn/early winter.

Team Form

Basel won eight games in a row before the Swiss Super League broke up for winter, and their winning streak ended in their first game back when they lost 1-0 at home to Lugano. They got back to winning ways on Saturday, however, as Dimitri Oberlin and Kevin Bua netted in a 2-0 win at Thun.

FC Basel Predicted Starting Line-up

Expected Line-up: 4-4-2

Team News

John Stones and Phil Foden returned to the bench, and both made late appearances, in the win against Leicester last time out. Pep Guardiola must now pick two of his four centre-back options - Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, club captain Vincent Kompany and record signing Aymeric Laporte. Oleksandr Zinchenko has been added to the Champions League squad after impressing in the absence of Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph of late. Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus also miss out, and David Silva is a doubt.

Key Players

Sergio Aguero scored four times in the second-half of the win against Leicester, and now has 13 in the last ten games and 18 for the season. City's first three goals in the 5-1 win against the Foxes were assisted by Kevin de Bruyne.

Team Form

After some rare dropped points against Burnley, City roared back into form with a crushing 5-1 defeat of Leicester om Saturday. Pep Guardiola's side have lost just two of the 40 matches they have played this season, and qualified for the last 16 by winning their first five Champions League group stage matches in 2017/18. They lost the final match, a Shakhtar Donetsk, but they had already sealed top spot in the group by then.

Manchester City Predicted Starting Line-up

Expected Line-up: 4-3-3

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City were back to the scintillating best as they turned the quality on in the second-half of their win against Leicester on Sunday, and FC Basel - despite their impressive defensive record this season - will have their work cut out on Tuesday night. Basel have already beaten Manchester United at home this season, but City are streets ahead of their Manchester rivals and it would be a huge surprise if they did not put themselves in pole position ahead of the second leg.

Manchester City have lost just two of their 40 competitive matches during the 2017/18 season - and one of those was their dead-rubber final Champions League group game against Shakhtar Donetsk.