Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the Europa League Group A between Lech Poznan and Manchester City.

Buric races from his goal to collect the ball after Vieira tried to play in Adebayor. Decent enough move.

Kryvets then in to rob Boyota of the ball. Peszko tries to pick up a loose ball, but Bridge reads that situation well and clears any danger.

Kryvets ventures down a wing for Poznan, but he can't escape the attention of Wright-Phillips. Boyata tidies up for City.

Lescott has the ball in the net, but he is too slow coming out and that strike is rightly ruled offside. Still a lot of noise coming from the home fans.

Terrific effort by Adebayor. He turned on the edge of the box to thump in a powerful drive, but Buric leaps to swat that shot behind his goal. More good play by the visiting side.

Some more probing play by Johnson down the left flank, but Henriquez whacks the ball away.

Poznan with a new manager in charge for this match. The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Jose Maria Bakero has replaced Jacek Zielinski. Despite a 4-1 win against Wisła Kraków on Sunday, Lech are 14th in the 16-club domestic league.

Terrific play by Adam Johnson Great dribbling skills. Found Milner wuth a pass, but Buric is out quickly to block for the home side. Almost the opener.

Given's last match of a competitive nature was Ireland's draw in Slovakia in their Euro 2012 qualifying match three weeks ago. This stadium is hosting 42,000 and looks pretty busy tonight. The Poznan fans in full voice despite some wet conditions.

City desperate to avoid losing three straight matches after defeats in the Premier League to Arsenal and Wolves. Shay Given back in the City goal this evening. He races out to clear the ball early on.

We are off and running in this one. City in white, Lech Poznan in blue.

The teams are in the tunnel and on the way out. Let us hope this is a decent contest this evening.

"It is always a strong game. We won at Eastlands and I hope we can win tonight," said Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini. "For us, this is very important because if we win we are through to the second stage. We have a squad of 21, 22 or 23 players, and we need to use them when we are playing a game every two or three days."

Here are the standings in Group A ahead of this match.

City are likely to dominate possession. The Citizens can boast an 85% pass completion rate in the Europa League this season, the second-highest in the competition behind PSV, whilst Lech Poznan’s is the eighth-lowest at 71.4%. This domination of the ball gives City the advantage, especially taking into account the fact that they are yet to allow their opponents even a shot from a fastbreak in the competition this season.

City are six matches unbeaten in European competition; five wins and a draw. The Blues have won both of their European away games this season without conceding a goal, bringing an end to a four-game wait for a victory on their travels.

The next goal City score will be their 100th in UEFA club competition.

Balotelli had been struggling with a thigh strain, but travelled following a morning training session yesterday. He is on the bench.

City have opted for a strong starting line-up. City team: Given, Richards, Bridge, Zabeleta, Milner, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, A Johnson, Lescott, Vieira, Boyota Substitutes: Hart, Kompany, Kolarov, Barry, Silva, Jo, Balotelli

Read what our resident Armchair Pundit Alex Chick has to say about City's recent bout of inconsistent form.

Despite his prolific strike rate of seven goals in nine league appearances this season, Carlos Tevez is yet to score in three Europa League matches (including qualifying) this season, so his absence tonight should not affect City too much.