Manchester City continue their UEFA Champions League campaign with the visit of Borussia Dortmund to the Etihad Stadium.
The Blues are in good form, and come off the back of a commanding 3-1 win against Bournemouth with yet another two goals from Erling Haaland.
Dortmund, meanwhile, are falling far behind Bayern Munich after their perfect start and sit in third place – seven points behind former City captain Vincent Kompany’s side.
Here are five things to look out for in this European clash:
Haaland
scoring against his old team
Before the match, Haaland recorded a video for official Borussia Dortmund social media channels, expressing his excitement at facing his former team again.
The 25-year-old joined City from Dortmund in 2022, where he scored 86 goals in 89 games in a two and a half season spell
Haaland’s continuing to bang the goals in for club and country after an electric start to the season, with another brace coming this weekend against Bournemouth.
Anyone sensible would back the big Norwegian striker to score again, ahead of a huge match against Liverpool this weekend.
Very few changes from Sunday
Pep Guardiola took the unusual option of giving his players a complete day of rest on Tuesday, despite it being just a day before the Dortmund match on Wednesday.
He has never done this for a European game before but did it for Aston Villa at home in the 2023/24 season, a midweek fixture that the Blues won 4-1, according to Jack Gaughan.
I think it means we can expect this week to look similar to the Manchester United, Napoli, and Arsenal run of fixtures in September; not many changes and priority focusing on momentum for three huge home games.
Dortmund and their threats
Dortmund have an excellent centre forward in Serhou Guirassy that City’s defence will need to be wary of.
The Guinean forward had an excellent campaign last year and currently has five Bundesliga goals in eight appearances, which is a steady return for a player who is capable of more.
City will also need to be cautious of Dortmund’s wide threats. Yan Couto, who was registered as a City player for five years up until this summer but never actually played for the first team, is enjoying life in Germany and thrives playing as a wingback with less defensive responsibility.
There have been much better iterations of Dortmund that City have faced back when Haaland, Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham were in the team, but Nico Kovac’s side still have the ability to cause problems.
Cherki with more goal contributions
Now having returned from his muscle injury, Rayan Cherki is getting his Manchester City career up and running at last.
The French midfielder has a goal and three assists in his two starts since coming back, and is already showing the makings of a formidable partnership with Haaland.
Cherki can thrive in small spaces and in transitions, so however Dortmund set up to defend against City we can expect the 22-year-old to hurt them.
Three points helping City achieve their goal
Guardiola has said numerous times that City, after last year’s near catastrophe in the Group Phase and then eventually missing out on qualifying for the Round of 16 against Real Madrid, that City’s aim this year is to finish in the top eight.
It avoids two extra games and the potential slip up regarding qualifying, whilst also giving you a favourable draw for the first round of the knockout stages.
City have a respectable seven points from their opening three games, and winning their home fixtures is something that will greatly improve their chances of qualifying for the last 16 automatically.
