PREDICTED LINEUP - BAYERN MUNICH VS MANCHESTER CITY - AKE BACK IN THE SIDE, AKANJI OVER WALKER

Image courtesy of mancity.com

Manchester City travel to Germany to face an out of form Bayern Munich side, in a crucial UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg tie at the Allianz Arena.

City hold a 3-0 advantage after a fantastic first leg display at the Etihad last Tuesday, with goals coming from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.

This game will be a whole different match, however, as City look to prioritise keeping the ball and preventing what would be an unlikely, but equally damaging comeback from Bayern Munich.

It is likely that we'll see a lot of safe possession for City, and perhaps a deeper, more compact defensive line from City as they try and stop Bayern's pacey forwards from having any space in behind.

The Blues will still provide an attacking threat, however, with the likes of Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Jack Grealish in exceptional form, and a goal for City would mean that Bayern Munich need to score 5 goals to win the tie outright, and 4 to send it to extra time.

After a controversy surrounding former Liverpool player Sadio Mane leaving former City player Leroy Sane with a bloodied lip, it'll be interesting to see the link up in Bayern's attack, with the squad dynamics being questioned, after Thomas Tuchel won just 2 of his opening 5 games as Bayern Munich boss.

Here's how we think the Blues will line up for the away Champions League leg against Bayern:

Ederson is in a rich vein of form at the moment, and we predict him to start again tomorrow.

We predict Manuel Akanji to start at right back, to limit the threat of Alphonso Davies and Leroy Sane on the left wing, as he did so well in the first leg. As Kyle Walker's form and sharpness increases, we could see him integrated back into the side, but for now, the in form Akanji gets the nod. John Stones will drop into midfield from centre back, and he'll be partnered at the back by Ruben Dias. Nathan Ake will play at left back, continuing his excellent form.

Rodri will be hoping to score another goal similar to the stunner he got in the first leg, as he starts at the base of midfield. Club captain Ilkay Gundogan will provide the "pausa" and control in midfield, playing as the left sided 8, whilst Kevin de Bruyne will provide chaos and directness form the right sided 8 position.

Energy and skill will come from Bernardo Silva on the right wing, as he looks to provided as much of a threat as he did to Davies in the first leg again at the Allianz Arena. Jack Grealish will be looking to provide further goals and assists from the left wing, continuing his fine run of form.

The Blues' centre forward will undeniably be Erling Haaland, who is staking his claim as the best centre forward in Europe. Haaland will be hoping to continue his good goal scoring record against the German champions, but also to win at the Allianz for the first time in his career.

Phil Foden returned to training today, but this match will come too soon for him. This means we'll see Scott Carson, Stefan Ortega-Moreno, Kyle Walker, Rico Lewis, Aymeric Laporte, Sergio Gomez, Kalvin Phillips, Maximo Perrone, Cole Palmer, Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez on the bench for City