Manchester City v Villarreal

Champions League Group A has so far lived up to its ‘Group of Death’ tag with two big sides struggling to get points on the board. Manchester City have a mustered a draw and a defeat while Villarreal have been beaten 2-0 by both Bayern Munich and Napoli. A further defeat for either team on Tuesday night would be devastating.

The great news for Man City fans is that their side are top of the English Premier League. With 22 points from eight games and a goal difference of +21 the hosts should have nothing to fear. Contrast that with the domestic form of the visitors; Villareal have gone winless in eight of their last nine matches and sit 13th in La Liga. The team news won’t lift morale either as the Spaniards travel to Lancashire without the influential pairing of Nilmar and Marco Ruben.

Admittedly, in the other camp Roberto Mancini is still sweating on the fitness of Sergio Aguero, while in-form Mario Balotelli completes a suspension. However, it’s hard to imagine that a side with 27 league goals to its name already will be lacking in creativity, particularly with Edin Dzeko and David Silva in sparkling form.

Villareal have only played one league game fewer than their opponents, yet their goal total is just seven. In four La Liga away matches they have found the net just once. They haven’t scored in either Champions League game so far. With those statistics in mind, a bet on Man City being the only team to score on Tuesday night looks like great value at 6/5 with WilliamHill.