Champions League team news and prediction: Man City vs Porto

Manchester City kick off their Champions League campaign with the welcome of FC Porto as they seek to improve this time out. City fell to a quarter-final loss to Lyon in August and that defeat will have only spurred on Pep Guardiola to learn from his mistakes. FC Porto lost key players in the transfer market, with Danilo Pereira and Alex Telles among those to leave. 

In the build up to tonight's clash in Manchester, we have all your need-to-know match information in one place, including team news, where you can catch the game and a scoreline prediction.   

When is kick off?   

Wednesday 21st October, 20:00 GMT   

Where is the match?   

Etihad Stadium, Manchester 

Where can I watch it?   

BT Sport 

How they qualified 

Manchester City's spot in the Champions League was never in doubt as they finished second in the Premier League. While they relinquished their domestic crown to Liverpool, the priority now is the Champions League for Pep Guardiola and his players and after their quarter-final exit last season, they'll be looking to dust themselves down to improve upon that finish. 

Porto went one better than Manchester City in Liga NOS as they wrestled the title back from rivals Benfica to secure Primeira Liga glory for the 29th time. However, their title defence has started poorly and they'll need to up their game if they are to come away from Manchester with a positive result tonight. 

Team News 

Manchester City have issues in defence with Aymeric Laporte and Benjamin Mendy both sidelined through injury. Oleksandar Zinchenko will be assessed, though Pep Guardiola can use either Nathan Ake or Joao Cancelo at left-back if need be. In attack, star man Kevin De Bruyne is ruled out through injury, so too is Gabriel Jesus, but Sergio Aguero is at least back following a spell on the sidelines with a knee injury. 

For FC Porto, the only absentee is Mouhamed Mbaye, though he was unlikely to have started for the Portuguese side with Agustin Marchesin the club's number one. Mateus Uribe and Luis Diaz both recovered from knocks to start against Sporting at the weekend and are expected to continue here. 

Probable XIs 

Manchester City (433) - Ederson; Walker, Dias, Ake, Cancelo; Silva, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling

FC Porto (433) - Marchesin; Manafa, Mbemba, Pepe, Sanusi; Otavio, Oliveira, Uribe; Corona, Marega, Diaz

Key Battle - Raheem Sterling vs Corona

As Manchester City look to get their Champions League campaign off to a winning start, Raheem Sterling is a man in form for Pep Guardiola's side. After a slow start to the season, Sterling has now had a direct hand in each of City last's five goals scored, netting four and assisting one. Guardiola will look to the England international to continue his good Champions League form, with Sterling having a direct hand in 19 goals in his last two European campaigns.

Having lost a number of key men over the summer, FC Porto managed to retain the services of Corona, who was linked with a move to Chelsea. Like Sterling, Corona comes into the clash in Manchester in good form, having had a direct hand in four goals in his last three outings, scoring twice. The Mexican performed well in Porto's 2018/19 Champions League campaign and he'll be looking to pick up that form over the coming weeks, starting tonight.

Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 FC Porto