With domestic football in Denmark still paused for the winter, FC Copenhagen’s clash with Man City on Tuesday will be the Danes’ first competitive fixture since December 12th and their lack of match sharpness could leave them extra vulnerable against their ruthless opponents.

City’s Premier League victory over Everton at the weekend pushed their winning streak to ten games in all competitions and the heavyweights notched at least two goals in nine of those fixtures. That form should make for ominous reading for an FC Copenhagen side with little European pedigree.

The Cityzens’ defence-shredding displays in the UCL Group Stage before Christmas, where they registered three times in each of their six fixtures, should also set knees knocking in the Copenhagen defence. Indeed, City were the top overall scorers in the tournament’s first phase, and with match result markets priced out of contention, it might be smarter to look to goals again this week.

With that as our guide, taking City to score over 1.5 times against Copenhagen is favoured here while backing goals to be scored in both halves also appeals at attractive odds.

City have plundered goals either side of the interval in five of their last seven fixtures and they have registered at least twice in 14 of their last 16 assignments overall. Expect City to dominate a ring rusty Copenhagen outfit from the off in Denmark and a healthy first-leg advantage could be secured by the reigning champions.

FC Copenhagen could find it difficult to make any inroads into City’s defensive third on Tuesday evening and with the visitors expected to dominate proceedings at Parken, it’s logical to dig out shot market options from the sky blue camp.

Step forward England international Phil Foden, who has found his shooting boots and ramped up his output in the final third in recent weeks. The attacking midfielder racked up 34 shots in his last eight appearances for City and he clocked at least one accurate strike in seven of the same outings.

Foden looks like excellent value in the 1+ shots on target stakes again against an FC Copenhagen side that conceded 46 shots and 20 shots on target across their three home fixtures in the Group Stage.

Josko Gvardiol could provide more of a niche alternative in the 1+ shots arena. The Croatian has been filling in at left-back quite often this season and while he isn’t the most comfortable-looking forward runner, he has let loose with at least one shot in each of his last four appearances and seven of his last nine starts overall.

Erling Haaland might be the obvious pick from an anytime goalscorer perspective, but the prices are right and he should have the bit between his teeth following his brace at the weekend. The Norwegian is the joint-leading scorer in the Champions League so far this season with five goals and he should have more opportunities to convert in Denmark.

Copenhagen lost the corner count in four of their six Champions League group games before the turn of the year, with the only outliers coming in their meetings with a calamitous Manchester United.

Interestingly, the Danes conceded at least nine corners in two of their three home matches and in four of their six Group A skirmishes overall, figures which can be explained in part by a tactical blueprint that includes the use of a low defensive block.

Copenhagen will expect to be pinned back in their own third again for large swathes of Tuesday’s first-leg and if the pattern of the game develops along those lines, City’s corner count could crank into overdrive again.

The Cityzens won corners at a rate of 5.60 per game during their group phase campaign, and they earned seven and eight corners respectively when they played Copenhagen twice in the 2022/23 Champions League Group Stage.

Besting over 5.50 corners again should be well within City’s reach at Parken on Tuesday evening, while braver bettors might consider taking the visitors in the -4.0 corner handicap stakes. Copenhagen lost the set-piece count by four or more corners in four of their six fixtures in the Group Stage and that trend could continue here.

Only four clubs made more tackles per game than Copenhagen (19.2) in this season’s Champions League Group Stage and the Danes should have plenty of challenges to make again on Tuesday against a possession-hungry Man City.

The Cityzens (70.4%) were the most dominant team during the same phase in terms of ball retention and unsurprisingly, that also made them the joint-most fouled team (13.8) alongside Lens.

Copenhagen will likely try to tackle and bump City out of their passing rhythm at Parken and defenders Denis Vavro and Elias Jelert both look like keen candidates to stick a foot in.

Slovakian centre-half Vavro committed at least one foul in four of his six Group Stage appearances while 20-year-old fullback Jelert did the same in three of his five runouts in Group A. Both defenders should have plenty of work to get through against City.

It’s also worth noting that Vavro was cautioned for overzealous challenges in big games against Bayern Munich and Manchester United last year, and his penchant for over-the-top tackles in matches of magnitude could make him worth tracking as an option to be carded.