The UEFA Champions League group phase continues this week, so take a look at our tips and predictions for the Group F matches. With plenty of picks and markets to choose from, don’t waste your time and join the action at Get More Sports.
Manchester City (Eng) vs. Feyenoord (Ned)
Three-Way: 1: Man City -500; X: +1275 Draw; 2: Feyenoord +2600 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -2.5: Man City +100; Feyenoord +100
Total +4: Over +110; Under -110
MANCHESTER CITY
The Citizens are in a fantastic run of 16 consecutive victories, and they are currently the hottest team in Europe and are at the top of both the Champions League group F and the Premier League. Man City collected 12 points in four matches, and already secured the spot in the knockout phase, while the recent 2:0 win over Leicester City put them eight points ahead of Manchester United. Gabriel Jesus and Kevin de Bruyne scored goals for Pep Guardiola’s side, and City played an excellent game in defense, preventing the Foxes from scoring.
Manchester City played 18 games so far in the 2017/18, recording 17 victories and a draw, with a goal difference of 52:10, which is 3.44 goals per contest on average. When it comes to matches at Etihad, the Citizens won eight in a row, allowing just four goals and scoring 28 in return, so Feyenoord will have a lot to do to escape Manchester undefeated. City beat the Dutch champions 4:0 in Rotterdam and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar outcome on this one.
Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, and Sergio Aguero are the team’s top scorers with ten goals apiece, while Leroy Sane is tracking them with eight goals to his name. David Silva surpassed Kevin de Bruyne on the assist chart and now has ten dishes, while the Belgian midfielder posted nine at the moment, and Sane added eight. Pep Guardiola will be without Benjamin Mendy (cruciate ligament) as the Frenchman is out for the season, while John Stones sustained a hamstring injury against Leicester and will be out for four to six weeks. The Spanish manager said that he could make plenty of changes for this tilt so that we could see a few U23 players and some fringe ones as well.
FEYENOORD
The Dutch champions are in a terrible form as they won only two out of the last ten matches, and are without a win in the previous four, sitting in the disappointing seventh position in the Eredivisie with 14 points behind the league leaders PSV. Feyenoord is already eliminated out of the Champions League as they suffered four defeats in four games, and I don’t expect them to pose a threat to Pep Guardiola’s squad on Tuesday. The Cockroaches drew the most recent match against Venlo at home, despite domination and 70% of ball possession, but the visitors managed to score in the 86th minute and annul Nicolai Jorgensen’s goal.
Feyenoord played 19 games in this campaign, recording eight victories, four draws, and seven losses, with a goal difference of 32:28, which is 3.15 goals per contest on average. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side scored in the last five away matches but won only one, and although they can find the back of the net at Emirates, I seriously doubt they can get a positive result here unless something drastic happens and Guardiola decided to field the entire U23 squad.
Steven Berghuis is the team’s leading scorer with nine goals in 17 appearances, while Sam Larsson with five, and Jens Toornstra and Nicolai Jorgensen contributed with four goals apiece. Tonny Vilhena, Toornstra, and Jean-Paul Boetius are the best assist-makers with three dishes to their respective names. Giovanni van Bronckhorst cannot count on Karim El Ahmadi who is suspended for this Champions League tilt, while the pair of centre-backs Eric Botteghin and Jan-Arie van der Heijden will not feature due to injuries.
Manchester City (Eng) vs. Feyenoord (Ned) – Match Prediction
The Citizens could opt to go with second unit ion this one, but even if Guardiola decides to rest his key players, City is still far better than the Dutch champions, and they should win without problems.
MY PICK: Man City -2.5 AH (+100)
Napoli (Ita) vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr)
Three-Way: 1: Napoli -192; X: +450 Draw; 2: Shakhtar +675 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -1.5: Napoli +127; Shakhtar -122
Total +3: Over -130; Under +125
NAPOLI
The Little Donkeys are playing exceptionally well in the Italian Serie A as they are at the top of the standings with 35 points, two more than Inter, and four ahead of the reigning champions Juventus. The most recent 2:1 home win over Milan will give Napoli a much-needed motivation to defeat Shakhtar and cut the gap between them to three points. Despite having a great time in Calcio, Napoli is struggling in the Champions League as they collected just three points in four matches, and only a victory here will keep their knockout stage hopes alive. However, Maurizio Sarri’s team needs to win on Tuesday and then to beat Feyenoord in Rotterdam in the final round, while they are hoping Man City to win in Ukraine against Shakhtar.
Napoli played 19 games in this season, recording 14 wins, two draws, and three losses, with a goal difference of 45:18, which is 3.31 goals per contest on average. The Light Blues won most of the home matches, suffering only one defeat, and it was a 2:4 loss to the Citizens, even though they had a lead in the first half. Napoli scored seven goals in the previous three games at Stadio San Paolo but conceded six in return so that we could witness a goal-glut on this one.
The Belgian international Dries Mertens is the team’s top scorer with 12 goals in 19 appearances, while Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne are following him on a goal-scoring chart with seven goals apiece. Mertens is the most creative individual at Sao Paolo with eight assists to his name, while Insigne and Faouzi Ghoulam added five dishes so far. Maurizio Sarri is without the Polish forward Arkadiusz Milik who is out with a cruciate ligament rupture and will not be back before February; the left-back Ghoulam is sidelined with the same issue, while Kalidou Koulibaly is suspended and cannot help his teammates here.
SHAKHTAR DONETSK
The Ukrainian champions are on the verge of qualifying for the next phase of the Champions League, and all they need is a point out of this tilt in Naples. Shakhtar suffered a surprising 1:2 home defeat in the league to Oleksandriya, but it seemed that the players were already with their minds in Italy and Tuesday night. Even with that loss, the Moles are at the top of the table with four points ahead of the arch-rivals Dynamo Kiev, while they are the second in the Champions League group F with three points behind City and six more than Napoli.
Shakhtar Donetsk played 22 games so far in the 2017/18 season, recording 16 victories, three draws, and three losses, with a goal difference of 44:22, which is precisely three goals per contest on average. The Moles have only one away defeat in this campaign, and it was at Emirates when the Citizens beat them 2:0, and Napoli will have a lot to do to get three points here.
The Argentinean striker Facundo Ferreyra is the team’s leading scorer with 16 goals in 22 appearances, while the right winger Marlos with nine, and left winger Bernard with six are also major contributors to the attack. The left-back Ismaily is the best assist-maker with seven dishes to his name, while Ferreyra, Taison, Bogdan Butko, and Darijo Srna added four assists apiece. Paulo Fonseca cannot count on the captain Darijo Srna who is still on special leave, while Sergiy Kryvtsov (knee) and Maksym Malyshev (knee) are injured and will not play on Tuesday.
Napoli (Ita) vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukr) – Match Prediction
Napoli is desperate for a win here, and that could be a great chance for the visitors to patiently wait and hit them on the counter, so I am expecting to see goals on both sides.
MY PICK: Both teams to score YES (-143)
