With the return of domestic action after the international break, except to be entertained. The UEFA Champions League is back with a bang and among some interesting fixtures in Matchday 3, we have Manchester City facing Sparta Praha for the very first time in the history of this tournament. Both sides will be locking horns at Etihad on Wednesday night.

Pep Guardiola and Co. enter the tournament with a close 2-1 win against Wolves over the weekend. The Premier League title race is already heating up for the Sky Blues as they are trailing behind leaders Liverpool by just a point. Concerning their previous UCL match-up, they secured an easy 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava, before enduring a draw against Inter Milan to gather just 4 points.

On the other hand, Sparta Praha also enters the match with a 2-1 victory over Liberec in the Czech First League. They are also second in their domestic league but are trailing with 6 points behind leaders Slavia Praha. Speaking of their European journey, while Lars Friis’ side managed to secure a whopping 3-0 victory over RB Salzburg, they endured a 1-1 draw against VfB Stuttgart in their previous fixture.

Manchester City vs Sparta Praha: Team news

Injuries

Manchester City

Sadly, injuries remain one of the biggest enemies of Manchester City. Pep Guardiola expressed his anger ahead of the UCL clash as Kyle Walker became the latest addition to the recuperation room, having picked up an injury during the international break. “I never was so angry like that moment — never ever before was I so disappointed,” Guardiola said.

Walker joins Rodri, who has practically been ruled out for the whole season as well as Oscar Bob, who also remains out for the time being. Other absentees for this clash would be Kevin De Bruyne. While the Belgian maestro is close to returning from the groin injury he picked up against Inter Milan, Guardiola admitted that KDB didn’t ‘feel good’, forcing the Spaniard to give him more rest.

Sparta Praha

Left-back Imanol García de Albéniz remains out for the time being. The Spaniard is currently nursing his knee injury which he sustained on August 11. Resting alongside Albéniz in the recuperation room is center-back Elias Cobbaut, who has also been out due to an unknown injury since September 16. The rest of the squad is available at Lars Friis’ disposal.

Predicted lineups

Manchester City [4-2-3-1]: Ederson, Lewis, Rúben Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, Phoden, Bernardo Silva, Grealish, and Haaland.

Sparta Praha [3-4-2-1]: Vindahl, Sorensen, Panak, Zeleny, Kairinen, Sadilek, Wiesner, Rynes, Tuci, Krasniqi, and Rrahmani.

Head-to-head stats and prediction

Both sides are facing each other for the very first time in the UEFA Champions League. Even outside this competition, they haven’t crossed paths. Hence, it’s quite difficult to say how the match will go, but we reckon the Premier League side to secure a win. The score will be Manchester City 3-0 Sparta Praha.

Watch Manchester City vs Sparta Praha UEFA Champions League on TV Channels and livestream

Manchester City vs Sparta will kick off at 20:00 (UK). Ardent supporters can catch the action live on Paramount+ and TUDN USA. Meanwhile, fans in the UK can tune in to TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports Ultimate, Discovery+, and the Discovery+ app.