Premier League giants Manchester City will be hoping to make amends for the disappointing defeat to Aston Villa when they host defending champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday, with the Bavarians currently on a five-match winning run.

Former Real Madrid boss Manuel Pellegrini has been trusted with the task of helping the Citizens return to the right track after a trophy-less last season.

He received a big backing from the club chiefs as they allocated significant transfer funds that have in turn seen the likes of Negredo, Fernandinho, Jovetic, Navas and Demichelis arrive at Eastlands.

However, it appears the Chilean hasn’t quite managed to get the team playing to their potential, with inconsistency proving to be a major issue at the moment.

And while the team impressed to record a 4-1 derby win over Manchester United, they have already suffered two slip-ups in the league, losing to Cardiff and injury-plagued Aston Villa on the road.

Having recorded a 3-0 triumph over Viktoria Plzen in their opening Champions League fixture, the Citizens will want to continue with strong performances in Europe when they take on the Bayern Munich.

With reigning Champions League winners arriving at Etihad, Manchester City are 3.50 (5/2) with bet365 to return to winning ways.

Manuel Pellegrini should have key players David Silva and Sergio Aguero back to the side, back Jack Rodwell and Martin Demichelis continue to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Hart – Richards, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy – Toure, Garcia – Navas, Aguero, Nasri – Dzeko.

Bayern Munich enjoyed a pretty slow start under new boss Pep Guardiola, but the sheer individual quality of the players ensured results were not affected by some under-par performances.

While dropping just two points in the Bundesliga campaign, the Bavarians pipped Chelsea to the UEFA Super Cup trophy, while kicking off their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 triumph over CSKA Moscow.

With such a big pool of quality players to choose from, Pep Guardiola had no problems selecting strong sides even when some key men were missing, and he has so far been rotating his squad quite frequently.

Bayern recorded their fifth victory on the bounce as they defeated Wolfsburg 1-0 at the weekend, but they clearly have to show some improvement in order to triumph in Manchester.

Despite somewhat struggling for form at the moment, the Bavarians are 2.30 (13/10) favourites with Paddy Power to win at Etihad.

Javi Martinez and Thiago Alcantara are out injured, whereas Mario Gotze is expected to play some part after resuming full training.

Probable starting line-up (4-1-4-1): Neuer – Rafinha, Boateng, Dante, Alaba – Lahm – Robben, Kroos, Schweinsteiger, Ribery – Mandzukic.

Unbeatable FREE BET Package!

888Sports have just taken free bet promotions to another level! New customers can now get  £/€/88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Spin Spins + Up to 5 “No Lose Bet”. All you need to do is place of at least £/€/$10 with 888Sports to get up to  £/€/$88 in Free Bets + 20 Free Casino Spins for City Life Slot. And also, make a first mobile bet of at least £/€/$1 with minimum odds of 1.5 to get up to £/€/$5 “No lose Bet” on Mobile.

Get Your £88 in Free Bets!