Roma forward Gervinho believes Manchester City will be hit by the suspension of his Ivory Coast team-mate Yaya Toure at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.
Toure is suspended for the final round of group fixtures and Gervinho believes that will hand Roma the advantage.
Roma will definitely qualify for the knockout stages with a win and a goalless draw could be enough, as long as CSKA Moscow fail to win at Bayern Munich.
Roma are 2.36 to win the match on Wednesday and a 0-0 draw is priced at 14.00.
City are missing star striker Sergio Aguero through injury but Gervinho believes it is Toure’s absence that is the biggest blow for the Premier League champions.
“City are not the same team without Yaya,” the former Arsenal forward told The Sun.
“For them, it’s a loss that he won’t be there. He is 90 per cent of their team- he’s a very important player for them.
“When he’s in top form the whole team does well. When he’s not well, City are not well either.”
Gervinho is set to make a return against City after he was rested for the Serie A draw with Sassuolo on Saturday.
Veteran Francesco Totti and defender Ashley Cole were also rested at the weekend but the pair will come back into contention for the visit of City, but midfielder Kevin Strootman is unlikely to be involved despite a recent return from injury.
City are without Aguero and Toure, while Stevan Jovetic, Vincent Kompany and David Silva are all doubts ahead of the clash in Rome.
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet