Kick-off: 2000, 12/03/2019
Stadium: Etihad Stadium
TV: BT Sport
Trueform shows exactly how well football teams have been playing, helping you to spot potential value bets. See who has performed above expectations and which teams are being underestimated by oddsmakers.
What Trueform says for Man City vs Schalke
Manchester City survived a major scare when winning 3-2 at Schalke in the Champions League and will be hoping for a smoother ride on home turf.
The Blues looked up against it when 2-1 behind and down to 10 men, but showed plenty of spirit to snatch victory late on at the Veltins Arena.
With the German side failing to get a shot on target outside of their two penalties, we’re going with 83/100 for a home win to nil in the second leg as our initial Man City vs Schalke prediction.
City have since edged out Chelsea in the EFL Cup final and claimed three straight Premier League victories, with only one goal conceded in those games!
A Look At Manchester City’s Betting Odds
As expected, City dominated early on against a side sitting 14th in the Bundesliga and went ahead when David Silva pounced on a defensive error to set up Sergio Aguero.
Things were in danger of going horribly wrong after Nabil Bentaleb netted twice from the spot before the break and Nicolas Otamendi was sent off on 68 minutes.
However, substitute Leroy Sane fired in a stunning free-kick and Raheem Sterling finished well after racing onto a long ball from Ederson to put City back in control of the tie.
“Always we keep fighting until the end,” said defender Aymeric Laporte. “The team have the quality to make these kind of things happen.
“We are very happy that we won this game. I think it was difficult. It is not easy playing with 10 guys on the pitch against 11.
“Now we have to be focused on the next game and the next one, always keep improving and win these kind of games.”
Having enjoyed 67 per cent of the possession in Germany, Pep Guardiola’s side should be able to dominate proceedings at Etihad Stadium.
Looking at the Man City vs Schalke odds, we like 13/2 for a 3-0 triumph in the return fixture.
City are without suspended pair Nicolas Otamendi and Fernandinho, but Aymeric Laporte could return after a hamstring injury.
John Stones (groin) will be assessed, but playmaker Kevin De Bruyne (hamstring) is out.
A Look At Schalke’s Betting Odds
Schalke manager Domenico Tedesco admitted his side missed the chance to claim a famous victory in the first encounter.
Former Tottenham midfielder Bentaleb made it 14 straight successfully converted spot-kicks for the club after Otamendi was found guilty of handball by VAR and Fernandinho was penalised for holding.
However, the hosts failed to maintain the momentum handed to them and were made to pay for some lapses in concentration.
“We’re obviously very disappointed by the result – we deserved more,” commented Tedesco.
“For one of the few times this season, we had a bit of luck on our side.
“We knew we’d be pushed deep, but we were sloppy too often on the counter and conceding the goals we did late on was heartbreaking.
“We need to be more clever. Some of our misplaced passes were terrible, unforced errors. We can’t afford to keep doing that.”
Schalke had looked nervous early on and the feeling is that they will again be affected by that fear-factor during the opening exchanges in England.
Let’s finish off our Man City vs Schalke betting tips by taking 19/10 for the fast-starting Blues to score in the first 15 minutes.
Three subsequent Bundesliga defeats hardly inspire confidence in Schalke coming back, with 11 goals conceded and only two scored in losses to Mainz, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Werder Bremen.
Additional stats
First-leg result:
SCHALKE 2-3 MAN CITY – Nabil Bentaleb (2) + Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling
Previous head-to-head: Schalke 0-2 Man City, Man City 5-1 Schalke, Schalke 1-0 Man City
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