Man City vs AEK Athens Preview: Team News & Prediction | 2026-27 UEFA Champions League | League Phase
by Alex Lawes ·
Manchester City have remained perfect in the Premier League thus far as they back to action in the UEFA Champions League with the visit of Greek champions AEK Athens.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV & online: UK – TNT Sports & HBO Max / USA – Paramount+
Man City preview: Seven from seven in the Prem
Amid being found guilty of 114 financial and conduct charges with the Premier League, Manchester City have returned to action on the pitch with wins against Liverpool and then Ipswich Town to make it seven from seven in the league.
Those victories sandwiched what was a 4-2 loss to back-to-back defending European champions Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium in a game in which they had fallen 3-0 down inside a blistering half an hour from the Parisians.
AEK Athens preview: Win and a loss
AEK Athens won the Greek Super League last season and they have remained strong at the start of this campaign, too, winning their opening league phase game by a goal to nil against LASK in the Greek capital city last month.
They head into this one, though, on the back of succumbing to a 3-1 defeat to Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk at Stamford Bridge in London last week, having taken the lead via Lovro Majer mid-way through the first half in that one.
Man City team news: A few issues
After sustaining injuries against Ipswich the other day, Enzo Maresca said that Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Erling Haaland all said they were OK but they will have to wait on details around a knee injury for Antoine Semenyo.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Guehi, O’Reilly; Fernandez, Bouaddi; Foden, Cherki, Ndiaye; Haaland
Unavailable:
Questionable: Nunes (Injured), Kovacic (Injured), Semenyo (Injured), Haaland (Injured)
AEK Athens team news: Varga fit
Hungary international striker Barnabas Varga worked his way back to full fitness and came off the bench at Stamford Bridge last week but Thomas Strakosha remains sidelined due to a wrist injury.
Predicted XI (4-4-2): Brignoli; Rota, Moukoudi, Relvas, Pilo; Majer, Vitalis, Marin, Koita; Zini, Jovic
Unavailable: Strakosha (Injured)
Questionable:
Man City vs AEK Athens prediction
The expectation is that this one will again be lobsided. Having started with a victory in Porto last month, there isn’t any immediate or major pressure for City to get back on the winning track but they will want to get themselves at least on the front foot in East Manchester. AEK head to the Etihad with the likely intentions to frustrate and so it may be a lower scoring contest than the thrills of last week’s clash with PSG for the hosts.
Man City vs AEK Athens Tip: Man City to win & under 3.5 goals
