In full-blown crisis mode after their fifth straight defeat across all competitions, meek Manchester City seek a shot at retribution in Tuesday's Champions League league phase match at home to Feyenoord.
Pep Guardiola's side were annihilated 4-0 by Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's Premier League shock, while their Dutch foes barely broke a sweat in a 3-0 Eredivisie win over Heerenveen.
Match preview
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From the highs of a Guardiola contract extension to the lows of their heaviest Premier League home defeat under the Catalonian coach, Man City's atrocious autumn run continued on Saturday evening against a Tottenham side who have made a habit of stealing points off the champions.
However, not even the most glass-half-full Lilywhites supporter could have envisaged the embarrassment that would ensue at the Etihad, where birthday boy James Maddison struck a brace before Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson completed an unforeseen Mancunian mauling.
As Liverpool fans across the land try to rein in their excitement with just under a third of the season played, the ailing champions are on a mission to avoid a sixth straight defeat in Tuesday's continental tie, where they have plenty of European wrongs to right too.
Indeed, now-Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim masterminded a tremendous 4-1 success for Sporting Lisbon in his final Champions League game in charge of the Portuguese giants, leaving Man City outside of the automatic UCL qualification places in 10th spot in the 36-team table.
Should disaster strike again and the reigning Premier League champions come up short on Tuesday, they will have lost back-to-back home matches for the first time since a run of three straight Etihad losses in 2018, but they have gone 33 home games without suffering a non-penalty shootout loss in the Champions League.
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In contrast, upcoming foes Feyenoord only have to go back to November 6 for their most recent 90-minute home loss in Europe's premier competition, as Brian Priske's men were conquered 3-1 by a Red Bull Salzburg side who had lost their first three games in the competition.
While Man City have not been able to turn their fortunes around since their latest Champions League setback, Tuesday's visitors to the Etihad have quickly reverted to type with dominant Eredivisie wins over Almere City (4-1) and Heerenveen (3-0); the latter result made it six victories from seven in the Dutch top flight.
Priske's side still have a long way to go if they are to catch runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven at the top of the Eredivisie table, though, and an indifferent tally of six points from their opening four Champions League games of 2024-25 leaves them in the bottom half of the league phase standings.
However, six of those points have been gleaned on the road, where Feyenoord have already beaten Girona 3-2 and Benfica 3-1 in this season's Champions League, and they could now win three straight road matches in the European Cup for the first time in their history.
The Rotterdam outfit were powerless against Guardiola's juggernaut in the 2017-18 Champions League group stage, though, as Man City ran riot in a 4-0 De Kuip drubbing in their inaugural meeting before edging out Feyenoord 1-0 at the Etihad; a repeat of the latter scoreline, while not emphatic, would be welcomed with open arms by the crestfallen City faithful on Tuesday.
Team News
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There is no chance that City will be able to call upon Rodri (ACL), Oscar Bobb (leg) or Mateo Kovacic (unspecified) for the visit of Feyenoord, but Ruben Dias is training again following a calf concern and might be an option.
Jeremy Doku (thigh) is in the exact same boat, but Guardiola will no doubt ponder numerous alterations either way, including a potential attacking recall for Kevin De Bruyne.
The Belgian playmaker showed some nifty touches off the bench on Saturday and could comprise a rejigged attack alongside Jack Grealish, while Nathan Ake ought to displace either John Stones or Josko Gvardiol at the back.
As for Feyenoord, their home loss to Salzburg was disastrous for more than one reason, as playmaker Chris-Kevin Nadje was given a straight red card for a serious foul in the second half and will miss the trip to Manchester through suspension.
The Rotterdam side are also working around a bigger injury crisis than Man City, as no fewer than eight players missed the win over Heerenveen on Saturday, including lethal striker Santiago Gimenez (hip), first-choice goalkeeper Justin Bijlow (muscle) and captain Quinten Timber (ankle); however, all three have trained ahead of this one and might be involved.
Hugo Bueno (unspecified), Ayase Ueda (muscle), Ibrahim Osman (unspecified) and Quilindschy Hartman (knee) are definite absentees for the visitors, although the latter was not selected for Feyenoord's league phase squad anyway due to his lengthy absence.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Stones, Ake; Nunes, Lewis; Savinho, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Wellenreuther; Nieuwkoop, Trauner, Hancko, Smal; Timber, Zerrouki, Milambo; Moussa, Gimenez, Paixao
We say: Manchester City 3-0 Feyenoord
With Feyenoord in much worse shape than Guardiola's side fitness-wise, Tuesday's game is an ample opportunity for the Citizens to pull themselves out of their rut, and one that they should not pass up.
As only one of the visitors' last 19 Champions League games has seen them keep a clean sheet, City should strike more than once en route to the win that may or may not spark a winter renaissance.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
