Preview: Dinamo Zagreb vs. Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Manchester City will be desperate to bounce back from the disappointment of the Manchester derby by beating Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

The Premier League champions have already qualified as group winners, while Zagreb will know that victory, combined with Shakhtar Donetsk failing to beat Atalanta, would take them through to the knockout phases as well.

Match preview

For Dinamo, the prospect of playing against a wounded elite side for a potential place in the last 16 of the Champions League is a truly dizzying notion.

After all, despite featuring regularly in the Champions League group stages over the past decade, Zagreb have not qualified for the knockout stage of Europe's top competition since before the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992.

For a team that has won the Croatian title in 13 of the last 14 seasons and is without doubt the biggest club in a country that reached a World Cup final last year, it must be asserted that Zagreb's performances in Europe have been considerably below par.

They had a superb chance to reach this holy grail against Atalanta, with a win taking them to eight points with one game left, only to play poorly and lose the game 2-0.

Nenad Bjelica's side will now have to produce the performance of their lives, and hope other results go their way, in order to create a slice of history in this competition.

In City, though, Zagreb may well come up against the ideal opponent following what would have been a traumatic defeat to Manchester United last time out.

If the club's title charge was in jeopardy before the game, City's fourth league defeat of the season leaves their bid to claim a third successive title in ruins, with Guardiola's men now 14 points behind Liverpool.

Such a state of affairs leaves City at a kind of crossroads, with Pep Guardiola tipped by some outlets to leave at the end of the season.

If that is the case, then the Catalan will know that this season represents the final chance for him and indeed City as a club to prove that they are capable of succeeding in Europe.

This is why the next few months, ahead of City entering the knockout phases, are so crucial for a team that will now have to shift its focus towards succeeding in Europe at the expense of chasing Liverpool for the title.

Recent Dinamo Zagreb form: WLDDL
Recent Dinamo Zagreb form (all competitions): WDWLWW

Recent Manchester City form: WWWDD
Recent Manchester City form (all competitions): LWDDWL

Team News

Zagreb only have one injury problem in the form of Sandro Kulenovic, who is expected to return to action from a broken foot next month.

City will be without John Stones, who suffered a thigh injury against United, while Sergio Aguero is also unlikely to be risked in this game.

Oleksandr Zinchenko looks set for a return to the action after missing nearly two months with a knee injury.

Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane, on the other hand, are still sidelined for some time due to more significant knee ligament problems.

Dinamo Zagreb possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Theophile-Catherine, Dilaver, Peric; Leovac, Stojanovic, Ivanusec, Ademi, Olmo; Petkovic, Orsic,

Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Cancelo, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Zinchenko; Gundogan, Rodri, Foden; Bernardo, Jesus, Mahrez

We say: Dinamo Zagreb 1-3 Manchester City

This is the kind of game that could really trip City up, especially with so much riding on the clash for the home side, but you suspect that a few fresh faces in the visiting team's lineup, alongside a determination to improve on Saturday's performance, will be enough to see Guardiola's men win quite comfortably.

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