Ajax vs Man City - Live on Sky Sports 1

Venue: Amsterdam Arena K/o: 19:45 Date: Wednesday, 24th October

Team News

Manchester City have a number of notable absentees tonight, and David Silva, Jack Rodwell, (both hamstring) Javi Garcia (thigh) and Maicon (foot) have not traveled to Amsterdam for their sides make or break Champions League tie against Dutch Champions Ajax tonight. James Milner looks set to make his first Champions League appearance of the season as a deputy for the injured Silva, whilst manager Mancini has a selection dilemma as to who to play up front, with the red-hot form of Bosnian Edin Dzeko putting him in the mix alongside Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez. "It is always difficult." Said the Italian manager. "When you have four strikers like Mario , Sergio , Carlos and Edin, you can't play them all." Match Preview Simply put, this match and its return leg in a fortnight's time are make or break fixtures for Roberto Mancini's side. They have picked up just one point from their first two Group Games in the so called "Group of Death" so far, and are in real danger of being left behind by group leaders Real Madrid, who play Dortmund tonight. They are three points off a qualification place, and a win coupled with a Dortmund defeat to put them joint second would be just what the doctor ordered. They face a stern test however against an Ajax side who have won back to back Eredivisie titles, though the Dutch side are yet to pick up a point in Europe so far and are considered the weaker of the four sides in the group. Still, they are at home in front of their home fans, and that makes for a difficult hurdle for Mancini's men to leap. Man City Likely XI Hart, Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Milner, Y. Toure, Barry, Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko Prediction Ajax 1-2 Man City - The Dutch side are the weakest team in the group, and whilst I can see them getting a home goal to make for a nervy evening for City, I just can't see the Premier League Champions losing this one.