23.10.2024 | 
Manchester City and Sparta Prague will meet on Wednesday in a matchup between two teams with a huge budget gap, but no difference in the Champions League standings this season. The team from the Czech Republic has yet to lose a game in the elite competition and hopes to come back from England with a historic result. Can they really do it?
Manchester City and Sparta Prague meet on 23.10.2024, in a clash between two teams from different football planets. The game takes place at Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday.
| Manchester City | Wednesday, 23.10.2024, 15:00 EST | Sparta Prague |
| 1 | x | 2 |
| 1,06 | 13,50 | 50,00 |
Manchester City – Sparta Prague: Initial situation
Wherever Manchester City plays, they have only one goal on their mind, and that is winning the title. Even though they do not have their best start of the season, it is safe to say that “The Sky Blues” are among the top 3 teams in Europe. Hosting Sparta Prague shouldn’t be anything more than a scrimmage game, but the visitors from the Czech Republic are still undefeated.
Manchester City Stats & Form
The 2023 UEFA Champions League winners are hoping to regain the title this season. In a rematch of that final, “The Sky Blues” played 0-0 against Inter in the opening round and then bounced back with a 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava on the road. In the Premier League, City is going after their fifth consecutive title and is currently second in the standings, one point behind Liverpool. Following the win in Slovakia, City won the next two games in the domestic league, 3-2 against Fulham, and 2-1 against Wolves in the last one. Erling Haaland is the main man in Manchester with 10 goals in the Premier League and one in the Champions League.
Sparta Prague Stats & Form
If you love Cinderella stories, Sparta Prague may be your team in the Champions League. The squad from the Czech Republic is going to the third matchday with four points hoping to advance to the next round. Bringing one point from the visit to Stuttgart and beating Salzburg at home is more than their fans could expect. Still, they are paying the price in Chance League where they are second with a six-point deficit behind the city rival and the main competitor Slavia Prague. Veljko Birmancevic, Lukas Haraslin, and Victor Olatunji are the top scorers on the team with six goals each in all competitions.
Manchester City – Sparta Prague: Head to Head
This will be the first match between Manchester City and Sparta Pague.
Manchester City – Sparta Prague: Odds
Manchester City is a major favorite going into this game with the odds of 1,06 in their favor. Sparta Prague stands at 50,00 while the draw is at 13,50. The total goal line is set at 3.5 with 1,89 for over and 1,97 for under.
Top 3 Betting Odds
| Manchester City – Sparta Prague Betting Tip | Odds |
| Manchester City -2,5 | 1,76 |
| First half: Manchester City -1.5 | 2,32 |
| Over 3.5 goals | 1,89 |
Betting tip and prediction: Manchester City – Sparta Prague (23.10.2024)
It is interesting to see that both Manchester City and Sparta Prague are going into the third matchday of the UEFA Champions League season with four points each. Sparta Prague had to go through the qualifiers to reach the elite competition, and they proved that they really belonged there after the first two games. Dominating Salzburg at home was a great start, and then staying undefeated in Stuttgart added a huge point to their name. Sparta is now going to Manchester for one of the biggest games in the club’s recent history. They are coming off a 2-1 win over Liberec in the domestic league, which was their first win after two consecutive losses. The 21-year-old center-back Martin Vitik is the one with the highest market value of €15 million, but he is injured and will not play at Etihad. Serbian striker Veljko Birmancevic is next with €9 million and will be the player to watch in this game. Besides Vitik, Sparta’s head coach Lars Friis will not be able to count on defender Imanol Garcia and midfielder Kaan Kairinen. On the other side, Manchester City cannot be happy with the start of the season in either competition. The draw against Inter in the Champions League is not a big deal since the season is long, but the fact that they barely won in Wolverhampton, the bottom team in the Premier League, on Sunday is something that Pep Guardiola is worried about. Erlin Haaland has 11 goals so far in the season, but he has dropped in his form since the opening couple of weeks in the season. Even though Guardiola has plenty of guys on top level, the absence of Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker is noticed. The Spanish coach may give a chance to a couple of players who are not regularly in the starting 11, and in any case, Manchester City will dominate the game and win by covering the -2.5-goal handicap.