Lee Dixon: City to stutter again in Champions League

Will Dzeko get the nod?

Betfair Ambassador Lee Dixon explains why he believes the champions of England are in for another frustrating night when they travel to Holland on Wednesday...

How long can Manchester City's Champions League problems go on? I know they won't appreciate the comparison but perhaps we should remember that it took Manchester United and Chelsea several attempts before they won European football's biggest prize. Perhaps City need to be patient.

It doesn't look like 2012/13 will be their year. They lost their first match to Real Madrid at the death but Jose Mourinho's men were by far the better team. Then they had to rely on a Mario Balotelli penalty to salvage a point at home to Dortmund. Add to that some rickety Premier League displays and you see why Roberto Mancini believes his players have struggled with the pressure of being England's top club.

Against West Brom, Fulham and Southampton they managed to score late winning goals. There are two ways of looking at that: either you hail their never-say-die attitude or you conclude that they have been lucky and that luck will, sooner of later, run out. I'm inclined to think they've been very fortunate so far.

Mancini, I think, doesn't know his best 11. He's got so many riches at his disposal that he hasn't worked out how to best use them and that is costing City momentum. The Dutch side are bottom of the group, having lost both their matches. They were thumped 4-1 at home to Madrid last time as Cristiano Ronaldo ran riot. Clearly, Ajax are leaky at the back but can City take advantage?

The hosts conceded three more on Saturday against Heracles so you'd think City's forwards would be licking their lips. Edin Dzeko earned them an unlikely win at the Hawthorns and he may get his chance against Ajax. He's scored seven this term and Mancini may pair him with Sergio Aguero here. Some people thought Mario Balotelli was lucky to stay on the pitch at the weekend. I'm not sure I'd risk the Italian against Ajax, not from the start anyway. Carlos Tevez, meanwhile, was poor against the Baggies. Let's hope that if Mancini puts the Argentine on the bench, he's willing to come on when his team needs him.

City need to win, a draw is not good enough at this stage and if Dortmund pull off an upset and beat Madrid in Germany, the Blues' campaign will be in real trouble. That's why they're out to 2.021/1 to qualify from Group D.

According to Opta, City have lost four and won only one of their last five on the road in Europe. If we factor in Ajax's terrible scoring record - failing to find the net in eight of their last 12 in Europe - then the draw starts to appeal at 4.1n/a.

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Back the draw @ 4.1n/a