Manchester City can virtually guarantee their place in the last 32 of the Europa League by beating Salzburg at Eastlands on Wednesday.

City currently stand second in Group A, level on seven points with Lech Poznan, with Juventus third on four points and the Austrian side bottom of the pile with two points from four games.

Failing to qualify would be another hammer blow for under-fire manager Roberto Mancini who is learning the harsh lesson that money does not guarantee success.

Their league form has been patchy and having already been dumped out of the Carling Cup, the silverware the club's owners have demanded is getting increasingly out of reach.

It has to be pointed out that since City lost 3-1 in Poznan at the start of the month, they have put together a five-match unbeaten run in the league with three draws and wins against West Brom and Fulham.

But it's not been convincing and with the prospect of a huge January clearout that is set to include the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Shaun Wright-Phillips, plus star striker Carlos Tevez claiming he has become disillusioned with the game, things are far from rosy at Eastlands.

The only way to get a feel-good factor and some much-needed stability is by winning football matches and we expect City to be far too good for Salzburg, and a best-priced 1.23 with Betsson would seem to back that up.

It goes without saying we won't be touching odds as skinny as that, so it's to the first goalscorer market where we will look for some value.

Spanish international David Silva was signed from La Liga side Valencia for a whopping £24m last summer and it's fair to say that it took the 24-year-old some time to settle to the helter-skelter of the Premier League.

But now it's all systems go and Silva was voted player of the month for October by City's fans after a fine run of form that included his first league goal - the winner at Blackpool.

We believe Europe is the perfect stage for his silky skills and give him time to weave his magic, then he can trouble any defence.

Silva is a best-priced 6.00 with Ladbrokes and Coral to get the first goal of the night and we think that is certainly worth a punt.

WEDNESDAY'S PICK:
David Silva to score first goal for Manchester City v Salzburg at 6.00 at Bet365