-
City face Inter in rematch of 2023 Champions League final
-
-
Man City v Inter Milan
Wednesday 18 September
Live on TNT Sports 1
A repeat of the 2023 final to kick-off Man City's Champions League campaign as they welcome Inter Milan to the Etihad on matchday one.
A perfect start domestically for Pep Guardiola's side and a dominant run in this competition where they've gone 23 games without losing in 90 minutes - which leads to them being 1/21.50 home favourites here.
Inter are also unbeaten so far but Simone Inzaghi's side haven't been anywhere near as impressive, with two wins and two draws now after a disappointing 1-1 with Monza on Sunday.
English Premier League - Top 5 Corners
Worryingly for this trip it's the away form that's the problem, as they've won 4-0 and 2-0 at the San Siro but drawn both of their Serie A trips - none of which are even in the same ballpark as this in terms of tough tests.
And having the Italian champions as big as 5/16.00 for an away win just shows how far ahead Man City are from most of the rest of Europe.
It's not a case of if City win but how, given the form they're in, but they have let Ipswich and Brentford score at home so Inter should have chances for a goal, but I think they'll be second-best in nearly everything - bar the card count.
So it's worth rolling the inevitable City win with an accompanying couple of stats plays. City turning their possession into corners and Inter to win most cards looks pretty standard.
Back Man City win & most corners, Inter most cards
Back a 7/1 Inter Bet Builder
The way he's been going, Erling Haaland only being 5/61.84 to score anytime doesn't actually seem too bad a price does it?
Haaland's a 9/25.50 OddsBoost on the Sportsbook to score two or more - and since only Kevin De Bruyne and Mateo Kovacic have scored besides the Norwegian then any goals are more than likely to come from him.
Lautaro Martinez has bagged in two of Inter's last four Champions League away games but is yet to find the net this season. Marcus Thruam has been their main man so far with four goals and at 7/24.50 to score anytime would be the pick for the visitors.
Thuram's leads the lead with 12 attempts on goal so far and with seven hitting the target his accuracy is pretty good. The 5/61.84 on Thuram 1+ shot on target goes straight into our Bet Builder.
One way you can back Martinez though is the 10/111.91 on him for 2+ fouls - as he's given away more than anone else in the squad and will have a lot of chasing to do.
And to complete what's an Inter-based Bet Builder we'll throw in Matteo Darmian for 2+ fouls at 7/52.40 - which has landed in three of four games this season and playing on the right as he does he'll come up against Doku or Grealish - or both!
Back Thuram 1+ shot on target, Martinez & Darmian 2+ fouls