Manchester City vs Inter Prediction: Will Manchester City justify their status as favourites?

Manchester City will face Inter Milan in Istanbul in the main game of the 2022-23 season for the Champions League trophy. The fixture is scheduled to start on June 10. Bookmakers have picked Pep Guardiola's team as the clear favourite to win the upcoming meeting. The latter has yet to win the most prestigious trophy at the helm of the Citizens, he will face a specialist who is excellent at motivating his charges in crucial matches. Will Manchester City justify their status as favourites or will Inter pick up the trophy for the fourth time in their history?

Manchester City was once again unbeaten in England under Pep Guardiola. With a fantastic second-round victory and two crucial victories over Arsenal, the Citizens won the Premier League title and then, at Wembley, beat neighbors United in the FA Cup trophy. This season could be the most successful for Guardiola at the helm of the Manchester City team, as Manchester City would make a treble if they beat Inter. Only Manchester United have ever won the EPL, the FA Cup, and the league title among English teams.

The team has failed to clinch the Serie A title this season, losing to Napoli by 18 points. For second place, the Milan side was challenged by Lazio. Inter lost two points to Napoli and finished the campaign in third place in Italy. Inter performed better in the country's second-tier tournament as the Nerazzurri snatched the Italian Cup, beating Fiorentina 2:1 in the final.

According to most bookmakers, Manchester City is the clear favorite. However, the recent encounter with Manchester United in the FA Cup final showed that Pep Guardiola's side could be slightly lacking. It was difficult for the Citizens to hold on to the win. In such vital matches, a single episode can decide everything; clubs have no margin for error. In the season's final stretch, Lautaro Martinez is in fine form; another big problem for City's defense will be Romelu Lukaku, who will likely come on as a substitute in the second half.

Let's look at the statistics. A single goal has decided the fate of the last three Champions League finals. Each encounter's goal was scored between the 40th and 60th minutes. It's worth paying attention to this range in the bookmakers' lines. We believe, however, that this time the final encounter will be marked by better offensive production.

As for the winner, we favor the English club. Guardiola has already lost a Champions League final to Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea. Pep has been in charge of the Citizens for a long time, and now is the best chance for him to pick up the trophy, even despite Inzaghi's talent to pull out the final encounters. Inter will fight against a top opponent and score, but the Neradzurri won't be able to win the trophy.