Manchester City welcome travelling Juventus to the Etihad in Group D of the Champions League on Tuesday evening looking to kickstart their campaign with a positive result on home soil.
Travelling Juve are seeking to set the record straight after a testing start to the new Serie A season, having picked up just one point from three opening games.
Manchester City
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City go into their clash against the Old Lady with the confidence of an untouched introduction to the Premier League behind them.
Despite their European struggles of late, City have started the new domestic campaign in lightning fashion after recording five wins from five fixtures so far.
The Sky Blues have often suffered from difficult draws in their previous Champions League exploits, although they have arguably been handed a slightly easier task this time around.
Manuel Pellegrini's charges are to come up against Juve, Sevilla and Borussia Monchengladbach, but they will feel that they can reach the knockout stages given that Tuesday's opponents are the only heavyweight team in Group D.
The European showpiece is often won with tactical organisation and this is something City have been crying out for in the last year.
The summer addition of Nicolas Otamendi could help to add some strength and guile into City's backline should he feature, while the late purchase of Kevin De Bruyne could sharpen City's ability to break down some of Europe's hardened defences.
The Manchester club will be looking to earn a victory from this clash in order to set out a marker for the rest of the group campaign, which may also serve as a message to some of this year's major contenders.
Recent form (all competitions): WWWWW
Juventus
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Juventus come into the fixture in a totally different position, given that the current Serie A champions have had a rough start to the season.
The Old Lady have picked up just one point from three league fixtures, while also suffering a defeat at the hands of title contenders Roma.
The early-season problems must be considerably perplexing for coach Massimiliano Allegri, given that he has been able to keep hold of much the same squad as the one that reached the final of this tournament last campaign.
The Italian outfit did well to ward off continued interest from a number of clubs for highly-rated midfielder Paul Pogba, while they made clever purchases in the shape of forwards Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and the creative midfielder Hernanes.
It is perhaps too early in the season for Juve fans to start worrying, but they will need to turn things around quickly in order to provide a threat on both domestic and European fronts.
Should they be able to get a result away at the Etihad, some of those early-season blues may soon disappear.
Recent form (all competitions): WDDL
Team News
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City have been boosted by the return to training of David Silva and Raheem Sterling on Monday, but they will be without key forward Sergio Aguero who is suffering with a knee injury.
It is also thought that Fernandinho and Samir Nasri missed City's training on Monday and could be absent from the clash. However, De Bruyne may make his starting debut for the club after coming off the bench against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Juventus have not had much luck with injuries of late, following major knocks to Sami Khedira, Kwadwo Asamoah and Claudio Marchisio.
Giorgio Chiellini could make a much-needed return, but that will depend on whether Allegri decides upon a three or four-man defence away from home.
Mandzukic could be knocking on the door to replace either Dybala or Alvaro Morata, while Juan Cuadrado will also be seeking to present his boss with a selection headache going forward.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Hart; Sanga, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov; Toure, Fernandinho; Bruyne, Silva, Sterling; Bony
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Buffon; Sandro, Chiellini, Bonucci, Caceres; Pogba, Pereyra, Cuadrado; Hernanes; Morata, Dybala
Head To Head
Juventus currently have the advantage when you look at the sides' history against each other.
As it stands, City have gone three games in all European competitions without a win against Juventus. The Italian side have beaten them once and held the Sky Blues to draws in the other two recent occasions.
We say: Manchester City 2-2 Juventus
City go into the fixture on the back of some impressive early-season form, but Juventus will be itching to get their campaign back on track with a positive result in Manchester. Pellegrini and his men have been struggling in the competition lately and have won only two of their last 10 Champions League fixtures.
Christopher Dodd
