Kick-off: 2000, 16/08/2023
Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens
TV: TNT Sports
Manchester City have the chance to add another trophy to their collection when they face Sevilla in the European Super Cup.
City go into the match as firm favourites after winning the treble and history is on their side, with the Champions League winners having triumphed in this fixture in nine of the last 10 years, although seven of those went to extra time.
The Blues might not yet be at their fluent best but should be too good, so a City win and under 3.5 goals at 23/20 is our first Man City vs Sevilla prediction.
De Bruyne blow for City
City are just 2/11 to lift the trophy but have already missed out on one piece of silverware this season after losing to Arsenal on penalties in the Community Shield.
They made a solid start to their Premier League title defence at least with a routine 3-0 victory at Burnley, where Erling Haaland scored twice before Rodri added the third.
Attention now switches to the midweek game in Athens and City defender Rico Lewis said: “Obviously, it’s a new competition for us. We’ve never won it, the club’s never won it, so again, it’s another trophy that we want to go and win.
“It’s another competition and an important thing we need to go and take on.”
The downside to the Burnley game was the reccurrence of Kevin De Bruyne’s hamstring injury and he now faces “a few weeks” on the sidelines, according to boss Pep Guardiola.
That is a blow to City’s creativity, especially after the summer departures of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan, so Sevilla will hope to starve Haaland of service.
That could lead to a cagey first half and a correct score of 0-0 at half-time appeals at 23/10 in the Man City vs Sevilla odds.
Sevilla not so super
While City are appearing in the European Super Cup for the first time, Sevilla’s incredible record in the Europa League means they are regulars in the early-season showpiece.
This will be their seventh appearance but they have had little to cheer about, having lost five successive European Super Cups since their 3-0 victory over Barcelona in 2006.
Since then, they have been beaten by AC Milan (2007), Real Madrid (2014 and 2016), Barcelona (2015) and Bayern Munich (2020), although their three most recent defeats all came after extra time.
Their domestic season also started with a defeat as they lost 2-1 at home to Valencia on Friday night, while their record against City is a worry, having lost all four Champions League meetings, including two during last season’s group stage.
Sevilla only finished 12th in La Liga last season and failed to take a point off any of the top four so look unlikely to cause an upset, with a 2-0 victory for City at 6/1 completing our European Super Cup betting tips.
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