The Citizens are still fighting to finish inside the top 4 domestically, so most of their top players like Sergio Aguero and Jesus Navas were involved in the league game last Saturday; however, Kevin de Bruyne was not. The Belgian was fielded for only 30 min against West Brom, as Manuel Pellegrini aims to keep his key player primed for the upcoming game vs PSG, because when De Bruyne is fully fit, we see an entirely different Man City. The impact of the Belgian is obvious and it’s no coincidence that it was him who opened the scoring against PSG a week ago.
Paris Saint Germain rested nearly their entire first XI at the weekend in order to focus on their Champions League dream. Only Kevin Trapp and Blaise Matuidi were involved in the Ligue 1 game against Guingamp (in comparison with the squad against Man City in the 1st leg), so Laurent Blanc will have all his squad well prepared.
The odds on two or more goals in the first half are pretty tempting – 2.62. In the first leg the two teams managed to net twice between them before the break. The same can be said for each of the last two league games for City (1:1 at home vs WBA and 3:0 away vs Bournemouth). The Parisians are also able to score fast goals (don’t mind their last game vs Guingamp with almost a reserve squad). For example, the first half in both legs of the last 16 tie against Chelsea ended 1:1.
So it’s over 1.5 goals in the 1st half at 2.62. PSG need an away goal and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria in the front three it seems quite possible. No chance to park the bus for Pellegrini, so the Citizens will search for goals from the starting whistle too.