CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BETTING PREVIEW - MANCHESTER CITY VS GALATASARY

Champions League

2026-01-28 - Manchester City vs Galatasary

A Sports Betting Preview by Auls

Manchester City v Galatasaray
Football: UEFA Champions League Match Day 8
Wednesday 28th January 2025 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

---

Manchester City

After a really difficult week suffering very disappointing away defeats at Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, Pep Guardiola just wanted his team to find a way to get the better of Wolves on Saturday. He made some changes, but a strong first half put Manchester City in command of that Premier League fixture and they have moved back into a dangerous position domestically.

The loss in Norway last week has put Manchester City in a challenging position in the bid to earn a top eight spot in the Champions League with one more fixture to be completed. It is a better position than twelve months ago when Manchester City needed a Match Day 8 win over Club Brugge to sneak into the top twenty-four, but the side are 11th in the current standings and needing to win and hope other results go their way in a bid to earn a spot directly into the Last 16.

Manchester City's win over Wolves was important on Saturday considering the performances and the results produced over the previous week. That win also means victories in 6 of the last 8 home games in all competitions, but Manchester City were beaten 0-2 by Bayer Leverkusen in the last home Champions League game played.

Both Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo have been signed this month, but that makes them ineligible for the Champions League Group Stage. A number of key players are still absent in defensive areas and Rodri is suspended, but Phil Foden and Erling Haaland will be pushing to be restored to the starting eleven.

Galatasaray

They remain on top of the Turkish Super Lig, but Galatasaray will be well aware that rivals Fenerbahce are chasing them pretty hard with plenty of football still to play. In recent years the Turkish top clubs have struggled to have a major impact at European level and Galatasaray are looking to reach the Knock Out Rounds of the competition when heading to Manchester on Match Day 8.

Last season they did not even make the League Phase of the competition after losing to Young Boys in the final Round of Qualifiers and it has been over a decade since Galatasaray last played in Knock Out Champions League Football. They earned a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Match Day 7 which has taken Galatasaray up to 10 points in this table, and it would need a number of results to go against them for the Turkish Champions to miss out on the Play Off Round next month.

Galatasaray have lost 1 of the last 9 games played in all competitions, but they had been forced to settle for draws in consecutive games before winning at Karagumruk this past weekend. That makes it 3 straight away wins in all competitions since losing at Monaco in the Champions League last month. Galatasaray have won at Ajax in this competition, but have also been beaten at Eintracht Frankfurt.

A couple of former Manchester City players will be looking forward to returning to play at this Stadium.

Head to Head

This is the first time these two clubs are meeting in a competitive fixture.

Prediction

The odds are very much favouring Manchester City to win this fixture, although you have to believe they are shorter than would normally be the case with the home team 'needing' three points in their bid to finish in the top eight of the Champions League standings.

Even backing Manchester City to win by a couple of goals is plenty short in the market, but they are rightly favoured against a Galatasaray team that have not been the most confident of travellers in European Football.

They have won at Ajax, but losses at Eintracht Frankfurt and Monaco underline the vulnerability of the Turkish top flight leaders.

Galatasaray may already have enough points on the board to avoid elimination at the end of Match Day 8, but they will be keeping tabs on other results. Ultimately it would be big odds for a number of teams to earn the results needed to surpass the 10 points that Galatasaray have on the board and that may give them some freedom to express themselves.

There is no doubt that Manchester City's defence is vulnerable with the host of injuries within the squad, while Rodri is suspended.

However, Manchester City have managed to rest some key attacking players and they are still very dangerous when going forward.

Odds on Erling Haaland scoring are very short considering his recent form, but he had a rest on Saturday and should be chomping at the bit. The attacking qualities should be enough for the home team to earn the victory, and it could pay to back one of those attacking midfield threats to have a Shot on Target during the match to bolster the odds.

Rayan Cherki has produced some of his best in the Champions League and is a source of plenty of shots for the home team- if he starts, backing him to have a Shot on Target in a Manchester City win is the play.

Keep an eye on team news in the build up to this fixture.

If Cherki does not start, which would be a surprise, backing Phil Foden to be the player to have a Shot on Target in a Manchester City win is a slightly shorter price, but would be the play.

The Pick :

Manchester City 3-1 Galatasaray

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll back Manchester City to Win & Rayan Cherki Over 0.5 Shots on Target (Bet Builder) at 1.83 with Bet365 (early payout if a team is leading by two goals)

(Phil Foden instead of Rayan Cherki pays out at 1.75 and would be the recommendation if the latter is not going to be starting so keep an eye on team news before placing the bet)