Erling Haaland suffered a rare off day against Wolves at the weekend but he looks worth siding with to strike against Sparta Prague on Wednesday night. The Man City goal machine opened up his Champions League account for the season against Slovan Bratislava on matchday two. That took Haaland’s record in this competition to a mighty impressive 42 strikes in 41 appearances. The majority of those goals were scored during the now defunct group stage, and there is plenty of scope for Haaland to strike again on Wednesday night.

Sparta Prague have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last four matches across all competitions, conceding a combined total of seven goals in the process. The Czech heavyweights gave up 26 shots, including 10 on-target efforts against Stuttgart on matchday two. Man City, and Haaland in particular, are unlikely to be so wasteful in front of goal.

Kaan Kairinen has scored in each of Sparta Prague’s opening two league phase games in this season’s Champions League but he will have a lot of defensive work to get through on Wednesday night. With that in mind, the Finnish midfielder looks a strong contender to commit at least one foul. Kairinen gave away a free-kick during Sparta Prague’s 3-0 win over Salzburg and he was then guilty of two offences against Stuttgart on matchday two. On top of this, he has averaged 1.39 fouls per-game across his eight Czech top-flight appearances this term to date.

He could be tasked with keeping tabs on Phil Foden who was fouled twice during his second-half appearance as a substitute against Inter Milan on matchday one. In fact, Foden has drawn at least one foul in five of his eight appearances for Man City this season.

Another Sparta Prague player who stands out to commit a minimum of one foul is Martin Vitik. The Czech Republic defender tackled his way into trouble in each of the Reds’ opening two league phase assignments against Salzburg and Stuttgart respectively.

The 21-year-old centre-half has also committed a combined total of three fouls across his last three appearances in the Nations League when representing his country. Typically deployed on the right hand side of a back three for Sparta Prague, Vitik is likely to cross paths with Jack Grealish.

Given that the aforementioned Jack Grealish is notorious for drawing fouls from the opposition, it makes plenty of sense to side with him to earn two or more free-kicks on Wednesday night. Grealish was handed a start on matchday one against Inter Milan and suffered no fewer than five fouls. He was also fouled five times during Man City’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle last month.

Grealish has also been on the receiving end of some rough treatment when representing England in the Nations League in recent months, having been fouled seven times across his three appearances. He earned the Three Lions four free-kicks against the Republic of Ireland and then a further two in their home win over Finland.

His direct opponent is likely to be Sparta Prague defender Martin Vitik, who committed multiple fouls during the Czech Republic’s recent 2-0 win over Albania.

Man City have looked shaky at the back this season, making both teams to score a value option at the Etihad on Wednesday night. Pep Guardiola’s side have failed to keep the back door shut in their last seven Premier League games, with their one and only shutout thus far coming against Chelsea on the opening weekend of the season. That has coincided with both teams scoring in seven of City’s opening eight league games of the season.

While Man City have yet to concede in two Champions League outings this term, Watford were able to land a blow on their visit to the Etihad in the EFL Cup last month. Thus, the Citizens could struggle to keep out a Sparta Prague side that have struck in each of their 19 outings across all competitions this season so far. What’s more, both teams have scored in each of the visitors’ last four matches.

Given that Man City have been prone to conceding goals this season, it also makes sense to side with over 2.5 goals on Wednesday night. Six of City’s eight Premier League games this season have produced three or more match goals, including each of their four outings at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola’s side have also covered the over 2.5 goal line on their own in two of their last three matches, one of which was against Slovan Bratislava.

As for Sparta Prague, a sizable eight of their 11 Czech First League fixtures this season have featured three goals or more. That was also the case in their matchday one success over Salzburg. Thus, a minimum of three match goals looks well within range in Manchester this midweek.

Phil Foden was one of Man City’s standout performers in their 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava on matchday two. The Man City ace was directly involved in two of the four goals in Slovakia, scoring one and setting up another. He has since come off the bench to provide the assist for Man City’s last-gasp winner at Wolves last time out.

After scoring 27 goals and providing 12 assists across all competitions last season, there are signs that Foden is coming back into form. He’ll be keen to make an impact if given the nod on Wednesday night and he could certainly make his mark against a Sparta Prague side that are without a clean sheet in their last four matches, conceding seven times along the way. Thus, Foden merits support to score or assist at the price on offer.

Lukas Haraslin is a player who regularly finds himself being roughed up by opposition defences. The Sparta Prague winger was one of the most fouled players across the opening two rounds of the new look league phase. He earned Sparta Prague three set pieces in each of their respective fixtures with both Salzburg and Stuttgart.

Haraslin has also been frequently drawing fouls when representing Slovakia of late, having been fouled twice in each of his last three outings for his country. He also earned his nation five free-kicks across their four outings at Euro 2024. He could be operating in the same area of the pitch as Bernardo Silva on Wednesday night, a player that committed two fouls against Wolves at Molineux on Sunday.