Man City vs. Dynamo Kiev
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick off: 8:45pm
Manchester City host Dynamo Kiev in the second leg of their Champions League last-of-16 tie on Tuesday evening (today), knowing that only a heavy defeat will prevent them from taking their place in the last eight of the competition.
Kiev have the quality in their ranks to cause a surprise but they have regular under-performed on their trips to England since the turn of the Millennium and Serhiy Rebrov is aware of the task that faces his team as they look to overturn a 3-1 deficit.
City must however put the frustration of Saturday’s goalless draw with Norwich City behind them.
They were poor during that game and were lucky to escape with a point, and with Leicester having gone clear at the top of the Premier League table, the Champions League is arguably their best chance of silverware.
Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping that striker Sergio Aguero can get back on the goal trail after missing a couple of decent chances at the weekend.
The Argentine has scored 12 times since the turn of the year, but he has only netted in two of his last six matches.
The return of Yaya Toure is a big plus for City.
After his performance in the 3-1 win in Kiev, he has earned the right to be used behind the main striker, rather than in a central-midfield position, and he will be eager to show his manager that is his best place in the side for the remaining weeks of the season.
With Andriy Yarmolenko in their ranks, Dynamo Kiev are capable of pulling off a shock result at the Etihad Stadium, but if they are to qualify for the last eight, they will have to do something that they have not managed this Millenium.
Kiev have not won on their last 10 visits to England, with their matches ranging from fixtures with Manchester United and Arsenal in the Champions League to Everton and Stoke City in the Europa League.
City have shown in the past that the Etihad is not such a fortress in Europe and that will encourage Kiev, but they cannot afford a slow start or else the tie will effectively be over.
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi, Clichy, Fernando, Fernandinho, Toure, Sterling, Silva, Aguero.
Dynamo Kiev possible starting lineup: Shovkovskiy, Vida, Dragovic, Khacheridi, Antunes, Veloso, Buyalskiy, Garmash, Gusev, Yarmolenko, Teodorczyk.