01 Oct 2018
Aguero expected to start for Man City v Hoffenheim

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Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is expected to start against Hoffenheim in Tuesday's Champions League tie.

He limped off after scoring in their 2-0 win over Brighton on Saturday but still took part in training.

Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne returned to training this week but is still recovering from the knee injury he picked up in August and will not play.

Claudio Bravo and Eliaquim Mangala remain injured, while Benjamin Mendy is also a doubt.

  • Aguero can break Shearer's Premier League goals record

Leroy Sane could make his fourth start of the season in attack.

Hoffenheim are expected to be without captain Kevin Vogt because of a thigh injury, as well as defenders Ermin Bicakcic and Havard Nordtveit.

The inexperienced trio of Stefan Posch, Kevin Akpoguma and Justin Hoogma are likely to replace them.

'I have a few ideas' - Nagelsmann

City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Lyon in their first Group F game while Hoffenheim drew 2-2 at Shakhtar Donetsk.

But Pep Guardiola's City side moved top of the Premier League table with the victory over Brighton at the weekend while Hoffenheim collected their third defeat in six league games.

It is the first time Julian Nagelsmann will go head-to-head with Guardiola, who coached Bayern Munich to three consecutive Bundesliga titles from 2013 to 2016 before joining City.

At 31, Nagelsmann is the youngest coach in Champions League history, and he is relishing the opportunity to test himself against Guardiola.

"I don't know if it it's always an advantage to know Pep Guardiola, because then you know that he is doing so much the right way or the best way," said Nagelsmann.

"It's not very easy to say exactly how he will set his team. He has different ways to play against different opponents. You can see a lot of similarities in his style, but also see a lot of differences.

"As I said, it's not easy to approach his style of play, but I have a few ideas."

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

  • This will be the first ever meeting in any competition between Hoffenheim and Manchester City.
  • In Hoffenheim's only previous meeting with English opponents, they lost 6-3 on aggregate to Liverpool in the 2017-18 Champions League qualifying play-off round.
  • Manchester City are unbeaten in their last five Champions League games against German opponents (W4, D1) since a 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich in September 2014. Guardiola was in charge of Bayern that day.

Hoffenheim

  • Hoffenheim have won just one of their previous nine matches in European competition (D3 L5), beating Istanbul Basaksehir in last season's Europa League.
  • Florian Grillitsch is looking to become the first ever Austrian player to score in his first two Champions League appearances.

Manchester City

  • Manchester City have become the first English side in Champions League history to lose four consecutive matches.
  • Manchester City have conceded two or more goals in each of their past four Champions League games; they last conceded at least two goals in five consecutive matches back in March 2014.
  • Guardiola met Hoffenheim six times whilst manager of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga. He won five and lost none of those meetings (D1), scoring two or more goals on each occasion.
  • But he has lost five of his last six Champions League games as manager (W1), as many as he lost in his previous 28 combined (W18, D5, L5).
  • Aguero has had a hand in more Champions League goals for the Citizens than any other player (32 - 26 goals, six assists). Aguero both scored and assisted in his last Champions League away game v Basel in February 2018.

Manchester City have 72% chance of progressing

Simon Gleave, head of sports analysis at Gracenote:

According to the Euro Club Index, Manchester City's chances of progressing to the Champions League knockout phase dropped from over 90% to 72% after their home defeat by Olympique Lyon.

Despite losing their opening match, City are still favourites to go through from Group F.

Manchester City's progress graph