Man City vs FC Copenhagen Odds, Picks, Predictions: Champions League Betting Preview (Wednesday, Mar. 6)
(Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images) Pictured: Kevin De Bruyne
Man City vs FC Copenhagen Odds
| Man City Odds | -600 |
| FC Copenhagen Odds | +1400 |
| Draw | +750 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -225 / +170 |
Man City host FC Copenhagen on Wednesday night for the second leg of the round of 16 matchup in the Champions League.
The defending champions have won all seven matches in this competition so far and are -75000 favorites to advance to the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the Danish club advanced out of a group that included Manchester United and Bayern Munich to make the knockout stages for the second time in the team’s history.
The first leg was a complete mismatch, but the scheduling spot could lead to rotation for the Cityzens to give us betting value in the rematch.
Read on to see how I'm betting this Man City vs FC Copenhagen fixture.
Man City
Beyond the perfect record in this tournament, the most impressive thing is the fact that Pep Guardiola’s team did it mostly without key playmaker Kevin De Bruyne.
This only bolsters an attack that finished with the most goals in the group stage of the competition.
Through seven games, City has racked up 21 goals on 20.3 expected to go along with a tournament-best +16.7 xGDiff, according to fbref.com.
With a clean bill of health coming into this one, Guardiola’s squad is set for another run at a trophy.
FC Copenhagen
If you read the preview for the last game, I touched on the tricky situation Copenhagen was in. The Danish side came into that fixture without playing a competitive match since December, and it showed.
However, this hasn’t been an easy team to beat in this competition so far. This is the same club that defeated Manchester United and Galatasaray in the group stage.
Copenhagen also held out to a scoreless draw in Germany against Bayern Munich. Over the two matches against the German giant, Munich were held to under one expected goal in each game.
Even though the club is down on aggregate, I expect a similar low block in this matchup.
Man City vs FC Copenhagen
Prediction
If we’re being honest, City have more than likely wrapped up this tie being up two goals and heading home. Meanwhile, the Cityzens have Liverpool this weekend in the Premier League in one of the biggest matches of the season.
I feel Pep is going to want to rest some of his key attackers like Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and De Bruyne. With that in mind, I believe this gives us betting value on the total.
So, my best bet is for the match to fall under the total of 3.5 goals at -110, which I would play to -130.
We already have an example of Pep rotating a City squad in a meaningless UCL match with the final group stage game against Red Star Belgrade. Neither Haaland or Julián Álvarez featured in a starting lineup that included Oscar Bobb, Jack Grealish, Micah Hamilton, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovačić.
Meanwhile, Copenhagen have shown they can hold up defensively, with four of six group stage matches going under this total. This includes both matches against Bayern.
We shouldn’t forget that these two sides played out to a scoreless draw last season in this same competition as well. With the Danish season getting back underway after the first leg, I expect the visitors to be less rusty.
There is also a previous example of City holding a huge advantage after the first match in the round of 16. After defeating Sporting 5-0 in Portugal in 2022, the second leg at home finished 0-0.
With the big match this weekend, I expect Pep to make some squad changes and tell his team to play keep away for 90 minutes.
Pick: Under 3.5 (-110)
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