Lee Dixons Champions League Bets: City to struggle and Arsenal to win comfortably

Will Aguero fire for City against Dortmund?
Betfair Ambassador Lee Dixon explains why he believes that Manchester City are in for a tough test against a talented German side. Meanwhile, Arsenal can return to winning ways at the Emirates...
Manchester City v Dortmund - 19:45, Live on Sky Sports 2
Manchester City thought they had done everything necessary to pull off a famous victory in the Bernabeu. Then disaster struck and they flew back to England devastated. That's the way it goes in this competition - you can have all the money but the teams who compete for Europe's prize over many seasons keep plugging away and can often turn things around when their opponents look like 1.01 certainties. Manchester United, Madrid and Barcelona have all done it.
Now City need to take three points against this talented Dortmund side. Last season, the Blues failed to do themselves justice in the Champions League. If they lose this, which I don't believe they will, the competition could pass them by again.
Roberto Mancini's team haven't been great this season, winning only three of eight matches, and Sergio Aguero's complaints about referees suggest that a bit of frustration might be creeping in. The Etihad Stadium, however, remains a fearsome place for visiting teams. Opta remind us that City haven't been defeated in any of their last 32 Premier League matches there and Dortmund lost all of their Champions League away fixtures last season.
And yet I still have a feeling that the German's will be able to frustrate City's attack. At the other end, City are yet to keep a clean sheet this term and Robert Lewandoski, who scored in Dortmund's 1-0 win over Ajax, could unsettle them. This is a tough group and I think City will have to settle for a point from this match.
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Arsenal v Olympiakos - 19:45, Live on Sky Sports 4
How will Arsenal respond to their first defeat of the season? They played well in patches against Chelsea on Sunday but losing against a title rival is always a big blow and Arsene now needs to get them up for this one.
That shouldn't be difficult. Arsenal have never won the Champions League but take it from me, European matches are always special nights in north London and the Emirates is a bit of a fortress in this competition. If you think I'm biased then note this nugget from the folks at Opta: Arsenal have lost only twice in 42 Champions League matches at home.
They don't lose consecutive matches there often either, so I won't hold back from saying that I anticipate a comfortable home victory. Lukas Podolski grabbed the winner when the Gunners beat Montpellier and the German striker has, Opta inform me, scored three goals in his last two matches in this competition. He had a frustrating time against Chelsea but I'm going to back him to rediscover his touch against the Greeks.
Steve Bould was unhappy with Arsenal's defending against Chelsea and Thomas Vermaelen and co. will have had a good look at themselves in training this week. If they want to regain their confidence, Olympiakos could be the perfect opponents. Not only have Arsenal beaten them twice at the Emirates in recent years but the Greeks have only scored once on ten visits to English clubs. Back the Arsenal clean sheet as the Gunners pick up their second win of the campaign.
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