Manchester City appear to have eased their way back into form and Robert Mancini will want to dispose of FC Porto in style on Wednesday.
While City’s priority remains very much on securing the Premier league title, Mancini will be keen to land yet more silverware after the FA Cup triumph of nine months ago.
The Europa League represents a terrific opportunity to do just that and the English club should be too good at the Etihad Stadium.
An early Silvestre Valera strike in Portugal gave the home team the lead last Thursday in the first leg but a strong City side hit back and Sergio Aguero came up with he winner just five minutes from time.
Porto, defending Europa League champions, represented a stiff test for Mancini and his players but the Italian boss showed no signs of taking the competition lightly and I expect him to wheel out all the big guns once again as he looks to advance.
With five wins from their previous seven matches in all competitions, the Premier League leaders are approaching somewhere near their best once again and their home form remains strong.
Wins over Bayern Munich and Villarreal in addition to a draw with [[Napoli were not enough to see them advance from the Champions League group stages but with a 2-1 advantage after 90 minutes this should be relatively straightforward and I have City much nearer the 1.50 mark.
Porto, so good against Europe’s second-tier sides, have struggled against the very best since their Champions League triumph under Jose Mourinho and even trail Benfica domestically, too. They should find City too strong in the north-west and it will be a surprise were the home team not to win fairly convincingly.
1pt Back Man City (vs. Porto) @ 1.62 (various)
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