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Champions League: Charlie Nicholas tips wins for Man City and Tottenham

Generic Charlie Nicholas image 10/08/2016
Image: Charlie Nicholas provides his Champions League predictions

The Champions League returns this week and we've enlisted the help of Soccer Saturday pundit Charlie Nicholas to assess the matches involving Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Leicester City and Celtic.

Charlie's former clubs, Arsenal and Celtic, began with a 1-1 draw at PSG and a 7-0 defeat at Barcelona respectively, while Tottenham take on Monaco at Wembley and Leicester - making their first appearance in the competition - travel to Club Brugge on Wednesday. 

Also on Wednesday, Manchester City host Borussia Monchengladbach after their match was postponed on Tuesday.

The Soccer Saturday pundit was spot on with his score prediction for Arsenal, while he predicted Lionel Messi would score the first goal against Celtic.

Here's how he sees the rest of the clashes panning out...

Charlie's tips
Charlie's tips

Agree with Charlie? Follow his selection with Sky Bet here.

Manchester City v Borussia Monchengladbach

City are on a high from the weekend but it was one good half and they know now, in Claudio Bravo, that they've got a guy in goal that takes a risk.

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They'll dominate possession and pin Monchengladbach in but this side are a strong unit even without Xhaka.

Kevin De Bruyne celebrates his goal with Nolito
Image: Kevin De Bruyne scored one and set another up at Old Trafford

Kevin De Bruyne was so important at the weekend and Sergio Aguero will be frustrated with himself so I'd expect a commanding performance and a comfortable win.

I think we'll see two thoroughly dominant home performances as these two sides look to take control of Group C and I would think Barcelona to win by three or more goals and City to win by two of more is a good bet.

Charlie predicts: 3-0 Nolito to score first (40/1 with Sky Bet)

Club Brugge v Leicester

This is a test for Leicester, who looked dangerous at the start against Liverpool but then again I wasn't quite sure why they played like they want to start dominating games.

There's a bit of anxiety in their play at the moment and they're going into this brave new world with a system they're playing.

Liverpool's Adam Lallana (2ndR) scores his side's third goal of the game
Image: Leicester lost 4-1 at Liverpool on Saturday

Brugge won't see themselves as any more of a surprise than Leicester so they may be happy to sit back, which won't suit Claudio Ranieri's men.

I actually think the away games are where they'll pick up the majority of their points because they're more comfortable with playing on the break.

I expect set-pieces to be very important to Leicester in Europe and I wouldn't be surprised if Wes Morgan gets on the scoresheet.

Charlie predicts: 1-1 and Morgan to score first (100/1 with Sky Bet)

Tottenham v Monaco

Monaco have started the season well and look like a pretty solid unit, winning 4-1 at Lille at the weekend after convincingly beating PSG 3-1.

I think they're stronger than when Spurs beat them last season, but I must admit that Spurs produced a big display at the weekend.

Heung-Min Son scores Tottenham's second goal of the game
Image: Heung-Min Son bagged a brace in Spurs' 4-0 win at Stoke

Up with Arsenal's performance against Watford and a couple of first halves from Man City, that performance at Stoke was up there with the most impressive in the Premier League so far.

Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that they're starting to get over last season, especially with Harry Kane getting a goal.

It will be interesting to see how many changes he makes. We were talking about when and where are they going to play Moussa Sissoko on Soccer Saturday. These European nights could be the chance, especially against a French side.

Charlie predicts: 2-1 and Kane to score first (22/1 with Sky Bet)

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