Young Boys vs Manchester City prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2023-10-24 19:00.
Swiss champions Young Boys face the toughest test of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign so far when they host defending champions Manchester City. The Bern outfit finished bottom of the pile in their only two prior UCL group-stage appearances, and with their next two assignments coming against Pep Guardiola’s juggernauts, they may find themselves staring down that barrel once again.
Raphaël Wicky’s side are currently on one point after a 2-2 draw against Red Star Belgrade followed their 3-1 loss at home against RB Leipzig. However, Young Boys can draw inspiration from their impressive performances against Manchester United the last time they shared a group with an English club, winning 2-1 at home and drawing 1-1 away in that 2021/22 Group F campaign, although it is likely that their record of losing six of their ten games against English sides (W2, D2) will get worse on Wednesday night.
As expected, City sit at the summit of Group G as things stand following 3-1 victories over both Red Star Belgrade and RB Leipzig, and will be looking to power clear at the top in the double header against Young Boys in pursuit of finishing first in the group for a seventh successive season.
Back-to-back wins would see City reach the UCL knockouts for an incredible 11th consecutive campaign, a streak that proved futile until last season's breakthrough triumph. They then underlined their continental dominance by claiming the UEFA Super Cup for the first time in their history too, and with that win contributing to their current 16-game unbeaten run in European competitions (W11, D5), anything but three points for the visitors here would be considered a huge shock.
Players to watch: Cedric Itten may hold the key to Young Boys getting anything from this game, since he’s never lost when getting the scoresheet for the club (W20, D2). He has the same shirt number as City’s destroyer Erling Haaland, who is seemingly hard to stop once he gets started since 11 of his 20 goalscoring outings in the UCL have seen him net more than once.
Hot stat: Young Boys have been trailing at half-time in only two of their last 23 matches.