Manchester City vs BSC Young Boys (UEFA Champions League Group Stage): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

Manchester City welcome Swiss side BSC Young Boys to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night in the reverse fixture of their most-recent Champions League group stage outing.

Jérémy Doku put on a show at the weekend in what was an emphatic 6-1 win for City at home to Bournemouth. The Belgian international starlet directly contributed to five goals as he helped his team put the team from the South to the sword.

Goals from Doku, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji put Manchester City three goals ahead inside the first half as the blue side of Manchester gave the fans a stellar opening 45 minutes and plenty to shout about following on from their derby day success.

That domination continued in to the second half and all the way through until full-time. After having a hand in all of the first-half goals (one goal and two assists), Jeremy Doku combined with Phil Foden with a delightful one-two before the Englishman struck past the goalkeeper.

Ederson and the rest of the defence would have been hoping for a clean sheet but, 10 minutes after Phil Foden’s goal, Bournemouth struck what would always be a consolation. On-loan from Leeds, Luis Sinisterra managed to slot between Ederson and Akanji in the 74^th minute.

Portuguese superstar Bernardo Silva doubled his tally for the afternoon five minutes before Nathan Aké converted Manchester City’s sixth and final goal of the affair. However, this time around things are different.

Pep Guardiola’s side turn their attention to the Champions League as Swiss outfit Young Boys visit Manchester for the reverse fixture. Previously in this tournament, City travelled to Switzerland, running out 1-3 winners and dominated the contest with goals from Akanji and Erling Haaland.

Pacey forward Meschak Elia scored for Young Boys. His ability to threaten in behind and run the channels created his goal and, again, is something that Guardiola will attempt to avoid in order to prevent an upset in Manchester.

Since the match at the Wankdorf Stadium, Young Boys have played three matches in their domestic competitions. Despite dominating possession, they failed to despatch of Lugano directly after the defeat to Guardiola’s side.

However, they have turned it around. A 0-2 win away at Rapperswil in the Swiss Cup preceded victory at Winterthur. Sandro Lauper was shown a red card and given his marching orders in the 59^th minute. With the score standing at 1-2, it could’ve represented problems for the Bern-based side but Raphaël Wicky’s side were unfazed. Loris Benito and Meschak Elia added one each to the scoreline to see out the game with a 1-4 victory.

Therefore, whilst Pep Guardiola’s team are expected to win, comfortably at that, Wicky’s team could provide some problems.

Fixture Details

Manchester City take on YBSC oung Boys on Tuesday 7^th November, with kick-off at the Etihad Stadium scheduled for 20:00 GMT.

Team News

Erling Haaland is 50/50 to make an appearance after Pep Guardiola declared in his press conference that he was unsure on the fitness of his goalscoring phenom.The Norwegian forward did however train as normal with the rest of the squad on Monday.

Kevin De Bruyne is still recovering from surgery on a hamstring problem and will be unavailable for the foreseeable future. Sergio Gómez was seen on crutches after picking up an ankle injury in training and therefore will be unlikely to take any part in this tie.

Meschak Elia was forced to come off in injury time during Young Boys’ match at the weekend however it is not believed to be a serious problem and could still make the squad.

Kastriot Imeri is unavailable with a long-term ACL issue whilst Lukasz Lakomy could be out for some time with a foot injury.

Head to Head

The reverse fixture was the first time these sides squared off. Manchester City came out 3-1 winners.

Stats

• Manchester City have won two of three matches against Swiss opposition. The only time they didn’t win was against Basel at the Etihad Stadium in March 2018.
• Young Boys are winless in five away games in England having drawn twice and lost three times.
• Young Boys have never won an away match in the Champions League.
• Manchester City haven’t lost any of their last 27 home matches in the Champions League, picking up 25 wins and two draws.

How to Watch

For fans in the United Kingdom, the match will be televised on TNT Sports 2, with radio coverage also being provided by TalkSport and BBC Radio Manchester.

For fans living elsewhere, you can find the complete TV listings here!

As usual, City Xtra will also be doing a live WatchAlong show so fans can follow the match on there as well. The show will be aired on the City Xtra Youtube channel.