Slovan Bratislavavs.Man City

Pep Guardiola's men are on a rare run of just one win in four, and have surrendered top spot domestically over the weekend.

Match preview

Life without Rodri for Manchester City began by drawing 1-1 at Newcastle United on Saturday, as Anthony Gordon's second-half penalty cancelled out Josko Gvardiol's opener.

That means that City's only win in their last four matches came against second-tier Watford in the EFL Cup last midweek, as Guardiola's men needed a very late goal to draw with Arsenal, and were also held by Inter Milan on matchday one of the Champions League.

Liverpool's win later on Saturday means City have dropped to second in the Premier League, but there should be no cause for concern as they have still only lost once in 90 minutes since December.

City enter this fixture as huge favourites, and could equal a European Cup/Champions League unbeaten record here if they avoid defeat once more, matching Manchester United's run of 25 games without losing, set between 2007 and 2009.

After being held at home to Inter in their league phase opener, this should be the chance for City to get their campaign up and running, as the 2023 winners look to wrestle back the trophy from Real Madrid.

This fixture could well see the biggest disparity in finances between two clubs across the entire league phase, especially when it comes down to the cost of assembling each squad, and the overall value.

Transfermarkt values Slovan Bratislava's team at just £24m, whereas Man City are valued at £1.04bn, suggesting that the hosts have very little chance of ending their current five-game losing streak against English clubs.

A 5-1 defeat at Celtic to get their debut Champions League campaign underway was a huge reality check for manager Vladimir Weiss two weeks ago, and they could not have been handed a tougher challenge to respond to that.

Slovan have at least shown form domestically, winning all three of their matches since the thrashing in Glasgow, scoring 12 goals in the process.

Weiss's side sit top of the Slovakian top flight, but the European stage will provide a much sterner test, even if they have won all four of their home matches on the continent so far this season.

Ultimately, if they are to become the first Slovakian club to make it through to the Champions League knockouts, that will not be decided here, or on their trips to Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid, as Weiss is likely to highlight games against Girona, Dinamo Zagreb and Stuttgart to get their estimated nine points required to make it through.

Slovan Bratislava Champions League form:

W

W

D

D

W

L

Slovan Bratislava form (all competitions):

W

L

W

L

W

W

Manchester City Champions League form:

D

Manchester City form (all competitions):

W

W

D

D

W

D

Team News

The big news over the past week has been that Rodri will miss the rest of the season due to the knee injury picked up against Arsenal, as the club has confirmed he tore his ACL in the first half last week.

Rico Lewis came into midfield to fill the void against Newcastle, but Guardiola also has Matheus Nunes available to him to potentially partner Mateo Kovacic.

Kevin De Bruyne also missed the weekend trip to the North East, and it is unlikely he will be risked here, but Phil Foden could be handed just his second start of the season, after dropping back to the bench against Newcastle.

Nathan Ake and Oscar Bobb remain sidelined with injury too, while wide pairing Savinho and Jeremy Doku could both come into the side here after only starting on the bench on Saturday.

Slovan went full strength at the weekend despite having this game on the horizon, so few changes are expected from that XI.

Kenan Bajric is a doubt after missing out entirely there, so Kevin Wimmer may continue in the centre of defence, with Jurij Medvedev at full-back, and while Lukas Pauschek remains out injured, Danylo Ignatenko did return after a brief absence as a substitute in the win over Michalovce at the weekend.

Slovan are likely to start very defensively, but if they are able to get at Man City, Marko Tolic should be the most influential player for the hosts, playing behind the lone striker David Strelec.

Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:

Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Wimmer, Medvedev; Kucka, Ignatenko, Tolic; Barseghyan, Strelec, Weiss Jr

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ortega; Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Matheus Nunes, Kovacic; Savinho, Foden, Doku; Haaland

We say: Slovan Bratislava 0-6 Manchester City

The gulf in class between these sides is clear to see, and City will believe they can get close to their record European win of 7-0, despite coming into this game in an uninspiring run of form.

Previews by email