UEFA Cup
2009-04-16 - Manchester City vs Hamburg
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Manchester City
Manchester City will look to emulate their neighbours Manchester United in progressing to a Semi Final of a European competition this season. However, they have perhaps a more difficult task than the one that faced the European Champions as they have a 2 goal deficit to overcome.
City have had a real up and down season this year and many of their fans are beginning to lose patience with Mark Hughes and the lack of progress the club has shown since being purchased by the Dubai Consortium. They find themselves in the bottom half of the Premier League in 11th and have compiled a 11-5-16 record so far this season. However, they have performed better at home than away and they are 10-0-6 at the City of Manchester Stadium. They have scored 32 goals in those games and conceded 15 which means only Manchester United have scored more goals at home in the league than City.
City are 9-2-4 in the UEFA Cup this season but have a 5-1-1 record at the City of Manchester Stadium in this competition.
Recent form has increased the pressure on Hughes who will be desperate for a result here. City have lost 5 of their last 6 games in all competitions and they have conceded 11 goals in those 5 losses. City have still been performing well at home even though they lost their last game there 1-3 to Fulham. Before that defeat, City had won 7 straight games at home in all competitions and they had conceded only 2 goals in those 7 games.
Robinho is expected to start tonight for City and the likes of Wright-Phillips, Bridge, Zabaleta and Kompany are also expected to play even though they have been suffering from injuries of late.
Hamburg
Hamburg feel they have a real chance of ending their trophyless seasons this year and will feel they have one foot in the Semi Finals after their convincing win over City last week. However, City's away goal should ensure complacency is not allowed to set in.
The German side are currently 3rd in the Bundesliga but are only 3 points off the leaders Wolfsburg. They have a 16-3-8 record in the League but much of this is based around their outstanding record at home. Away from home, Hamburg are 5-2-7 with 19 goals scored and 28 conceded. Only Hannover have conceded more goals away from home in the Bundesliga this season and no team has lost more away games in the top 12.
Hamburg have been very impressive in this competition this season, with their 8-2-1 record. The only defeat came during the group stages to Ajax. They are an impressive 5-0-0 away from home where they have scored 12 goals and only conceded 3.
Hamburg lost at Stuttgart this weekend, but they had won their previous 5 games in all competitions. They have been a bit hit and miss away from home since the Winter Break and are 4-0-3 in those games in all competitions. The Germans have only 1 clean sheet from their last 7 away games.
Collin Benjamin and Guy Demel are out for Hamburg in this game.
Head to Head
These 2 sides met for the first time in competition last week but each of them has played teams from the other nation on previous occasions.
City have played German teams twice at home previously and have won 1 and drawn 1 of those games.
Hamburg have played in England 4 times before, and have a bad record of losing 3 games and drawing the other.
Prediction
City are going to have to come out of the blocks early here and will definitely need to score the first goal if they have any hope of going through.
Hamburg have looked much more solid since the Winter Break and have a real chance of winning some silverware this season. However, they have the tendency to throw in a bad away game and that could cost them here, even though they have had a very good away record in the UEFA Cup this season.
I think this is going to be an entertaining game tonight and I have decided to play City to overcome some recent performances and win this game tonight. I am not sure if it will be enough to go through overall so I will just play them to win in 90 minutes.
The Pick :
Manchester City 2-1 Hamburg
