Manchester City vs TSG Hoffenheim Predictions

Manchester City absorbed a hefty blow on Saturday evening as they fell to their first league defeat of the season, and it didn’t come without cost. Their 2-0 loss away to Chelsea not only brought The Blues back into the Premier League title race, but it also allowed main challengers Liverpool to leapfrog The Citizens into top spot.

Of course, it was in the Champions League where the illusion of invincibility fell apart. Lyon shocked them with a 2-1 win at the Etihad on matchday one, and Hoffenheim even managed to take the lead against their illustrious opponents. In fact, Manchester City have conceded over a third of their goals this season in their 5 Champions League group stage game.

That hasn’t stopped Pep Guardiola’s men from rising to the top of the group though. They sit 3 points clear of Lyon behind them, and know that a point against Hoffenheim on Wednesday will be enough for them to clinch the top spot. For this reason, Guardiola is likely to make some changes and give some tired legs a much needed rest.

Hoffenheim are already out of the running for the qualifying positions, but they are only 2 points behind Shakhtar Donetsk in 3rd and could stake a claim to the Europa League knockout stages with an unlikely win on Wednesday. However, even against a weakened Manchester City side their chances of getting a result are slim.

The visitors’ chances of getting a goal or 2 are much more pronounced though. The Bundesliga underdogs have scored in a massive 20 of their 21 competitive games this season, including all 5 of their Champions League group matches. They’re facing a Manchester City side who have conceded in each of their last 4 competitive games and in over half of their competitive home games this season.

All things considered, we fancy Hoffenheim’s chances of getting on the scoresheet, but with just 1 clean sheet this season they aren’t likely to hold Manchester City at bay for very long. We’re backing Both Teams to Score here, along with a 3-2 win for the hosts.