Home And Away: City can claim vital win

Silva is out but will Mancini pick Tevez?

Jonno Turner explains why he expects Manchester City to prevail in Holland. Our man is also expecting a French side to win...

We're off to Amsterdam for our first pick of the day - as Roberto Mancini's Manchester City side travel to face Ajax in this Group D Champions League game.

It says something about the level of quality in this 'group of death' that Ajax are probably the whipping boys of the four teams, as confirmed by a 4-1 home thrashing by Real Madrid a couple of weeks ago - and the Blues will be desperate to inflict more misery on their Dutch counterparts this evening.

Mancini has seen his side in stellar form ahead of this tie, and he will be particularly impressed by the battling qualities they showed during their victory over West Brom last time out. That result took City to four games unbeaten ahead of their trip to the Netherlands.

A loss to Real in their opening Group D tie, and a draw at Eastlands against an impressive Borussia Dortmund side, will have put City behind schedule in their quest to win this elusive cup, and Mancini will see this as a must win game in order to restore some sort of equilibrium in the mini-league.

The visitors are without Spanish winger David Silva, but it is likely that James Milner will slot in as replacement, and the only other selection headaches for Mancini are which world-class strikers he chooses to unleash at the Amsterdam Arena this evening.

Frank de Boer's side line up for this tie having failed to win in their last three games, and the home defence looks shaky following eight goals conceded in that time.

They have won just one of their last five Champions League games in front of their own fans - but it is not just the results that will have knocked confidence in the home camp, it is the manner of those performances.

No goal scored in three of those games, with 11 conceded, suggests that de Boer's side struggles when faced with the real quality found at European level, and I think that they could be on the receiving end of another heavy loss here.

Ajax's European campaign is all but over after two opening Group D losses, and City will be hoping that their quality can reap dividends in this one.

Bet 1: Manchester City (AWAY) @ 1.845/6

Over to Group B now, and Montpellier will be desperate to secure their first win of the group stages as they welcome struggling Olympiakos to the Stade de la Mosson.

The hosts have drawn one and lost one so far and will be keen to make the most of this encounter with their Greek guests, who sit bottom of the table.

An impressive 2-2 draw away at Schalke will have raised confidence in the home dressing room, and Rene Girard will know that, with the top two in the group playing each other this evening, this game is a must win if his side are to maintain any hope of securing their place in the knockout stages of the competition.

And three unbeaten from their last five outings indicates that the hosts do have the quality to punish their opponents here.

Olympiakos travel to France having failed to win in seven of their last eight Champions League games away from the Karaiskakis Stadium, and boss Leonardo Jardim will be desperate to arrest that slump here.

But two losses, and five goals conceded, in their opening two group games points to weakness in the visitors defence, and that could cost them dearly as they line up in Montpellier this evening.

The Greeks are going well domestically, and currently sit top of the Super League, but they so often struggle to transpose that domination into their European campaigns, and I think that we'll see them go home empty handed here.

Bet 2: Montpellier (HOME) @ 2.186/5