Manchester City vs. Villareal - Champions League Match Preview

City know two wins home and away against Villareal will see them in a strong position to advance to the next stages but it'll be a tense atmosphere if it gets to the hour mark and no advantage has been gained.

By Matt Holmes / October 18, 2011

Manchester City certainly haven't found the Champions League a stroll in the park like they have the domestic campaign this season but then again they were handed the toughest group of all the English teams competing this time round. In their first taste of Champions League football City find themselves five points behind Bayern Munich and three behind Napoli and are yet to win a game with just point to their name. Despite all this, manager Robert Mancini remains completely optimistic for progression to the knockout stages; "If we win this game we can win the group," His hopes have no doubt been raised for tonight's game against Villareal at the Etihad Stadium with star striker Sergio Aguero passed fit to start and what cures would have otherwise been a considerable headache for the Italian boss with Mario Balotelli still suspended (it's the final game of his three match ban) and Carlos Tevez still in the doghouse. City know two wins at home and away against this opposition will see them in a strong position to advance to the next stages but it'll be a tense atmosphere if it gets to the hour mark and no advantage has been gained.

Team News

Sergio Aguero will partner Edin Dzeko up front and Sami Nasri is expected to come back into the side. Despite having to be subbed in the game against Villa at the weekend Micah Richards has recovered from his head injury and plays. Meanwhile Villareal have an injury crisis of their own with strikers Marcos Ruben and Nilmar, midfielders Javier Camunas and Marcos Senna and defender Angel Lopez not even making the journey to Manchester. Line-ups from; Manchester City squad: Hart, Pantilimon, Richards, Kompany, Zabaleta, Lescott, Kolarov, Savic, Clichy, K Toure, Milner, Johnson, Barry, Nasri, De Jong, Y Toure, Dzeko, Aguero, Silva. Prediction: 2-1 - Manchester City certainly won't find this match against Villareal as easy as they did Aston Villa but there's just so much quality in the squad names above that at home they should be able to beat anyone.