Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City Tip

Roberto Mancini gave an emphatic answer to those who questioned how seriously Manchester City would take the Europa League when his side defeated Porto 6-1 on aggregate in the last round. On Thursday they take on Iberian opponents again, and we should expect a similar outcome.

Sporting Lisbon are 13 points adrift of Porto in Portugal’s Primeira Liga, and look what City did to them! Ricardo Sa Pinto’s side do have a decent home record, but they haven’t faced opponents of the calibre of the Citizens all season. The best chance for the hosts is that Mancini’s side don’t take the job seriously, and we have no reason to suspect that will be the case.

City have got over their winter blues by winning their last six fixtures in all competitions, scoring 15 and conceding just one in the process. Mancini rested David Silva and Sergio Aguero at the weekend, so both should be expected to play significant roles in Lisbon. In fact, the indications are that the visitors will play something very close to their strongest possible line-up.

With that in mind I can only see Manchester City improving on their 2-1 victory in the away leg against Porto. It shouldn’t be a massacre, but it may be comfortable in the end. The 8/1 (Ladbrokes) on a 2-0 victory is tempting but we broaden our options by taking the 5/1 (Ladbrokes) on Mancini’s boys simply winning by a two-goal margin.