Manchester City appeared an imperious force through the first month of the 2023/24 season, but they will need to re-focus against RB Leipzig in the Champions League after back-to-back defeats.
After enjoying a 100% start to the campaign, Rodri’s recent absence as a result of a suspension has seen City lose 1-0 to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup before falling to a shock 2-1 defeat at Wolves on Saturday.
Even with Rodri coming back in, their upcoming trip to Saxony won’t be easy in the slightest. RB Leipzig have enjoyed an excellent start to the season, and they’ll be kicking themselves that they didn’t secure all three points against Bayern Munich at the weekend after taking a 2-0 lead.
Like City, Marco Rose’s side notched a 3-1 win on Matchday 1 to start their Champions League campaign.
Here’s 90min’s preview of the upcoming Group G clash.
RB Leipzig vs Man City H2H Record (Last Four Games)
Current form (all competitions)
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Country |
TV channel/live stream |
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United Kingdom |
TNT Sports 1, discovery+, discovery+ App |
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United States |
Paramount+, ViX |
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Canada |
DAZN |
The hosts will have a few players missing on Wednesday through injury. Dani Olmo is a particularly big miss, and he’s not expected to return until after the international break after spraining his knee.
A back issue is keeping Timo Werner out of action and he’s not especially close to making his return, and neither is Willi Orban, who is expected to be out until the end of November with a knee injury. Kevin Kampl is also out.
Benjamin Sesko is vying for a start after earning minutes off the bench against Bayern, while Nicolas Seiwald is expected to replace Kampl in midfield.
Leipzig predicted lineup vs Man City (4-2-2-2): Blaswich; Henrichs, Simakan, Lukeba, Raum; Schlager, Seiwald; Simons, Carvalho; Sesko, Openda.
Rodri’s absence has been hard-felt in City’s recent defeats, but he’ll come back in for Wednesday’s game as his suspension doesn’t carry over into UEFA competitions.
Matheus Nunes is the most likely to be sacrificed from Saturday’s starting XI at Wolves.
John Stones is edging closer to a return, but isn’t yet ready to earn minutes, although Bernardo Silva could make his comeback following a brief period on the sidelines.
Kevin De Bruyne is a long-term absentee.
City predicted lineup vs Leipzig (4-3-3): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic, Alvarez; Foden, Haaland, Grealish.
Manchester City were held on their last visit to Leipzig, and they could be in for another tough away trip on Wednesday. There’s an effusiveness to Rose’s side that’s tough to contain, with Leipzig’s speed, verticality, and directness causing Bayern plenty of issues at the weekend.
This will be a challenging contest for the visitors to control, even with Rodri coming back in, and they might be a little unsure of themselves after a difficult week. Ahead of Sunday’s huge Premier League encounter away at Arsenal, Pep Guardiola will be content with a point from their toughest game in the group.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 1-1 Man City
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90Mins
