Manchester City are in a difficult position before the final round of group games, but the good thing is that Bayern have already secured the first place in the standings, meaning they will have no special motives in this clash.

The Citizens have been thoroughly impressive on domestic stage this season and they now look like the main candidates for the Premiership title, but their European showings leave a lot to be desired.

Roberto Mancini’s side had been placed into a pretty difficult group, but nobody expected them to be on the brink of elimination after five rounds.

In order to go through, Manchester City now need to beat Bayern at home and hope that Napoli won’t win at El Madrigal, so no wonder the Citizens are 3.50 (5/2) with Bet365 to make it to Champions League knockout stages.

Roberto Mancini has no fresh injury worries, but he is expected to make some changes to the side that recorded a 5:1 win over Norwich at the weekend.

Joleon Lescott returns to the side after being rested at the weekend, whereas Mario Balotelli could return to the starting line-up.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Hart – Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy – Nasri, Y. Toure, Barry, Silva – Balotelli, Aguero.

The mere fact that Bayern have ensured the first place in such a difficult group before the final round of games shows just how impressive the Bavarians have been on the European stage.

Their domestic performances haven’t been up to the standard during the last few weeks, but the team look set to return to the right track.

The 4:1 win over Werder Bremen helped the Bavarians return to the Bundesliga summit and with the away game against Stuttgart on agenda at the weekend, coach Jupp Heynckes will be tempted to rest some of the starters against Manchester City.

Even so, Bayern are expected to continue the great scoring run of the travels, with Bet365 paying 1.73 (8/11) on both teams to score.

Arjen Robben should be given a chance to build his match fitness, whereas young Petersen could come in for Mario Gomez.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Neuer – Boateng, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Lahm – Gustavo, Alaba – Ribery, Kroos, Robben – Petersen.