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Could Dortmund exploit Man City’s weak area in Champions League clash? [Opinion]

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Manchester City are favourites to pick up all three points against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening, but the Bundesliga giants are no slouches at the Signal Iduna Park with four wins and two draws from their last six home games.

Dortmund need a result to seal their place in the knockout stages and might target City’s right-hand side to pull off a victory as Pep Guardiola won’t have Kyle Walker available. If Manuel Akanji starts at right-back and Riyad Mahrez on the right wing as they did against Brighton, City might be susceptible.

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Akanji was praised by Guardiola for his versatility, but he’s looked human in the last couple of games. Dortmund are strong on the left-hand side too, so it would make sense to exploit that.

Left-back Raphaël Guerreiro has one goal and two assists from nine Bundesliga, creating 10 chances, making 10/15 successful dribbles and whipping in 19 crosses.

Julian Brandt, who has two goals and two assists from 11 league appearances this season, can operate on either flank and as a central attacking-midfielder, but Dortmund might deploy him on the left so they can give Akanji a difficult evening.

Guardiola may not want Mahrez providing the protection on the right for Akanji, so he might have to make way on Tuesday evening. Phil Foden is in the frame to feature, but Bernardo Silva is an option too with his high levels of industry.

In other news, Pep Guardiola could start Phil Foden v Dortmund after Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez underperform

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He joined from Newcastle in 2000 and left to join FC Sochaux in 2003

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.