The Premier League champions travel to Germany in their second matchday in this season’s Champions League, having surprisingly lost their opener
Manchester City will head into their Champions League meeting against Hoffenheim in search of their first points in this season’s competition.
The Premier League side lost their first game 2-1 to Lyon and are currently bottom of Group F. However, in the Premier League they are once again top of the table following Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton.
Hoffenheim are currently 12th in the Bundesliga having lost three times in six league games. They drew their opening Champions League game 2-2 against Shakhtar Donetsk.
| Game | Hoffenheim vs Manchester City |
| Date | Tuesday, October 2 |
| Time | 5:55pm BST / 12:55pm EDT |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| TNT USA | fubo TV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched on BT Sport 3 or live streamed via BT Sport Live.
| UK TV channel | Audio |
|---|---|
| BT Sport 3 | BT Sport Live |
| Position | Hoffenheim players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Baumann, Stolz, Kobel |
| Defenders | Brenet, Kaderabek, Bicakcic, Nuhu, Schulz, Hubner, Hoogma, Akpoguma, Posch, Amade |
| Midfielders | Nordtveit, Rupp, Geiger, Demirbay, Grillitsch, Bittencourt, Zuber, Amiri, Vogt, Pires, Grifo, Hack, Baumgartner |
| Forwards | Nelson, Belfodil, Otto, Kramaric, Szalai, Joelinton |
Hoffenheim will be without captain Kevin Vogt due to a persistent thigh problem, alongside David Otto, Benjamin Hubner, Dennis Geiger and Nadiem Amiri in a lengthy injury list for the German club.
Hoffenheim starting XI: Baumann, Brenet, Kaderabek, Demirbay, Grillitsch, Belfodil, Hoogma, Akpoguma, Szalai, Joelinton, Posch
| Position | Manchester City players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Ederson, Bravo, Muric, Grimshaw |
| Defenders | Stones, Otamendi, Laporte, Walker, Kompany, Mendy, Danilo |
| Midfielders | B. Silva, D. Silva, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Delph, De Bruyne, Foden, Brahim |
| Forwards | Sane, Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling, Jesus |
Sergio Aguero was doubtful for Tuesday’s match but shook off a knock to be named as a starter alongside Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling in attack.
City will are still without Kevin De Bruyne while he recovers from a knee injury, though he has returned to training, while Benjamin Mendy remains sidelined too.
Man City starting XI: Ederson, Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Laporte; Fernandinho, Gundogan, Silva; Sane, Sterling, Aguero
Manchester City are firm favourites and priced at odds of winning 4/11 according to bet 365 , while a draw is available at 19/4. A win for Hoffenheim is up for 15/2.
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Despite losing their first game, Manchester City are heavy favourites to win their second Champions League match of the season against Hoffenheim.
Pep Guardiola has reflected on City’s defeat to Lyon and knows that every game is tough.
“We have five finals to qualify, [there is] not time to lose a lot of games and we’ve lost the first one,” the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss said ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
“We know the situation we are in. Five finals and this is the first one. Except Real Madrid, in the last three years nobody wins it [more than once] – it’s so tough [but] in the last five or six years we’ve made a step forward.”
Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann has expressed his excitement at playing last season’s Premier League champions.
“I [will] play against Pep Guardiola for the first time and, from his professional career, he is a good point of reference,” Nagelsmann told reporters.
“I’m really looking forward to our first Champions League game at home. Until now I’ve been feeling fairly normal and we’ve been concentrating on training but, as of tonight, there’ll certainly be plenty of excitement.”
Hoffenheim and Manchester City have never faced each other in any competition. The Bundesliga club have won just one of their previous nine matches in all European competitions.