Tuesday 26 September, 19:45
Live on BT Sport 3
City's impressive home record
As strong as Manchester City's start to the Premier League season has been, Pep Guardiola knows his impact on the club will be measured by their progression in this competition.
City are now in their seventh consecutive Champions League campaign but have made the quarter-finals or beyond only once (in 2015/16) and were arguably careless in the Catalan's first season to let their lead against Monaco slip as they were knocked out in the last 16.
Nevertheless, the start to life in Group F this time around was impressive, with that 4-0 destruction of Feyenoord on match day one, thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and a John Stones brace.
City are now unbeaten in their last nine Champions League home games (W6 D3), their longest run without a defeat on home soil in the competition, and will therefore be confident as they host Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Shakhtar poor on the road
The Ukrainian side have become something of a mainstay in the Champions League and have reached the knockout rounds in three of their last six attempts. Their campaign started promisingly this time too with an impressive 2-1 win over Napoli, a side many had tipped as dark horses.
Goals in that game came through Argentinian Facundo Ferreyra and teammate Taison who maintained a long tradition of Brazilians scoring for Shakhtar in this competition. Sixty-four per cent of the club's goals in the Champions League have now been scored by Brazilians (69 out of 108).
And the Lusophone connection doesn't end there. Paulo Fonseca, their 44-year-old Portuguese manager, took over last summer and led the side to a first Ukrainian title in three seasons.
Can he lead them to winning their opening two Champions League for just the third time?
City should score a hatful
An away win seems unlikely, as odds of 17.50 suggest. Shakhtar have lost all four of their previous trips to England, adding to a woeful record for Ukrainian teams against Premier League opposition: no side from the eastern European country has won an away game here, with two draws and 12 defeats from their 14 games.
City have scored 16 goals in their last three Premier League games without conceding and look unlikely to stop their rampant form any time soon.
The home side are clear favourites at odds of 1.21, but a better option would be to back City -2.0 on the Asian Handicap at odds of 1.84. If they win by just two goals you get your money back and if they win by three or more you collect all your winnings.
Goals are expected
None of Manchester City's 37 Champions League group games have ended goalless and it seems far from likely that will happen on Tuesday. Odds on 0-0 are 34.00.
Seven of City's 10 games in the competition last season went Over 2.5 Goals and the market deems that an almost certainty, with that outcome trading at just 1.36.
What may be more tempting is to back Any Other Home Win in the correct score market at odds of 2.74 - you would need City to score at least four in order for that one to come in. It would be a brave person to bet against them in this form.
Recommended bets
Back Manchester City -2.0 on the Asian Handicap @ 1.84
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