Well, what now for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City? They desperately need to stop the rot when they face Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola is in the middle of the worst spell of his managerial career. City entered the November international break having lost four on the bounce in all competitions, and their woes were compounded by a rampant Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday as the Cityzens succumbed to a stunning 4-0 home defeat.
There are myriad factors behind City’s current demise; issues that reared their ugly head during a 4-1 defeat to Sporting CP on Matchday 4 of the league phase. They sit tenth in the table as a result, but the slumping champions have a great chance to put a few things right ahead of a monster Premier League duel with Liverpool on Sunday.
Feyenoord have been up-and-down this term, especially in Europe. They’ve won two of their four games, but they failed to build on an impressive away victory over Benfica as they were beaten 3-1 at home by the previously point-less RB Salzburg last time out.
The Dutch outfit have lost just once in the Eredivisie, but four draws means they sit fourth in the table and with a mere outside chance of competing with the likes of PSV Eindhoven and Ajax for the title.
Here is 90min’s guide to Tuesday’s Champions League clash.
Man City vs Feyenoord H2H Record (All Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Man City |
Feyenoord |
|---|---|
|
Man City 0-4 Tottenham – 23/11/24 |
Feyenoord 3-0 Heerenveen – 23/11/24 |
|
Brighton 2-1 Man City – 09/11/24 |
Almere 1-4 Feyenoord – 10/11/24 |
|
Sporting 4-1 Man City – 05/11/24 |
Feyenoord 1-3 RB Salzburg – 06/11/24 |
|
Bournemouth 2-1 Man City – 02/11/24 |
Feyenoord 3-2 AZ Alkmaar – 03/11/24 |
|
Tottenham 2-1 Man City – 30/10/24 |
Feyenoord 0-2 Ajax – 30/10/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Amazon Prime Video |
|
United States |
Paramount+, fuboTV, TUDN.com, Univision NOW, TUDN App, ViX, TUDN USA, UniMás |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Rodri’s absence has been hard-felt amid City’s recent rut, and although the Ballon d’Or winner holds out hope of returning before the season draws to a close, he remains sidelined for the foreseeable future. Oscar Bobb and Mateo Kovacic are also absent, while Ruben Dias is unlikely to play on Tuesday due to a calf injury.
Jeremy Doku could return to the matchday squad after a spell out, while Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish, used substitutes on Saturday, should come into Guardiola’s XI.
Nathan Ake could offer Josko Gvardiol some respite in City’s defence.
Man City predicted lineup vs Feyenoord (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Stones, Ake; Nunes, Lewis; Savinho, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.
The visiting team also have their fair share of injury complaints. Eight players missed Saturday’s 3-0 win over Heerenveen, and there are doubts over the statuses of three key performers – Santiago Gimenez, Justin Bijlow, and Quinten Timber – for Tuesday’s game.
Feyenoord will certainly be without Chris-Kevin Nadje after he was sent off in the defeat to Salzburg last time out in the league phase.
Hugo Bueno, Jordan Lotomba, Ayase Ueda, Ibrahim Osman and Quilindschy Hartman are other contenders to miss out.
Feyenoord predicted lineup vs Man City (4-3-3): Wellenreuther; Nieuwkoop, Trauner, Hancko, Smal; Hwang, Zerrouki, Milambo; Moussa, Carranza, Paixao.
You wouldn’t fancy backing City in any encounter right now. They look old, unathletic, and bereft of synergy out of possession. Guardiola has a mountain of problems.
However, they aren’t going to be losing forever. While many suspected Saturday would be a ‘get-right’ game for the Cityzens, their distinct issues allowed Tottenham to run riot and you have to suspect that even an injury-riddled Feyenoord will have their moments in Manchester.
This does seem like a relatively kind fixture for the CItyzens given the visitors’ likely absences, and we have to back them to win at home ahead of their trip to Anfield next Sunday.
