Champions League holders Manchester City will be looking to bounce back from successive domestic defeats when they travel to Germany for a group-stage clash with RB Leipzig on Wednesday night.
The Citizens and Die Roten Bullen currently sit joint top of Group G after beating Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys respectively by a 3-1 scoreline in their opening fixture two weeks ago.
Match preview
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Despite the sale of a few key players in the summer, including Josko Gvardiol to Man City, RB Leipzig have made an impressive start to the new season, winning seven, drawing one and losing just one of their first nine games in all competitions.
Just over a month on from their comfortable 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup, Die Roten Bullen appeared to be on course to claim another victory against the Bavarian giants in the Bundesliga on Saturday, when goals from Lois Openda and Castello Lukeba put Marco Rose's men 2-0 up inside the first 26 minutes at the Red Bull Arena.
However, Bayern rescued a 2-2 draw courtesy of second-half strikes from Harry Kane and Leroy Sane, ending Leipzig's four-game winning streak in the top flight, and Rose's side have subsequently slipped down to fifth in the table, albeit only three points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Leipzig will welcome a swift return to the Red Bull Arena where they have won 12 and drawn three of their last 17 home fixtures in all tournaments since the turn of the year, scoring at least two goals on 11 occasions in the process.
Die Roten Bullen will be seeking revenge against reigning champions Man City after suffering a heavy 8-1 aggregate loss to the Citizens in the round of 16 last season, with a 1-1 first-leg home draw followed by a thumping 7-0 away defeat in the reverse fixture.
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For the first time since January of last season, Man City have suffered back-to-back losses in all competitions after following up their EFL Cup third-round defeat at Newcastle United with a 2-1 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League last weekend; the Citizens had lost only two of their previous 41 games before this spell.
A Ruben Dias own goal and a second-half winner from Hwang Hee-chan, either side of a stunning free kick from Julian Alvarez, helped Wolves – who admirably suppressed City's usual dominance in the final third despite having just one shot on target – claim maximum points at Molineux and end the Citizens' perfect start to the new Premier League season.
A small chink in City's armour has been exposed in recent weeks as they have gone behind four times in their last five games, losing twice in this run, and Pep Guardiola's side can ill-afford another slow start if they wish to return to winning ways against an in-form Leipzig outfit, before facing Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a Premier League showdown on Sunday.
Man City's impressive form in the Champions League bodes well in their quest to avoid a third successive defeat, as they have only lost two of their last 30 matches in the group stage, while they extended their overall unbeaten run in the competition to 14 games when they came from behind at half time to beat Red Star 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium in gameweek one.
However, the treble winners have failed to win in each their last four visits to Germany including both of their previous two trips to Leipzig, with the aforementioned 1-1 draw last season preceded by a 2-1 defeat at the Red Bull Arena in the 2021-22 Champions League group stage.
Team News
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Leipzig defender Benjamin Henrichs has picked up a minor hamstring strain and will miss Wednesday's game, joining Dani Olmo, Willi Orban and El Chadaille Bitshiabu, who are all nursing knee injuries, in the treatment room; Timo Werner, meanwhile, is doubtful with a back problem.
However, Kevin Kampl is available for selection despite coming off with a hip injury in last weekend's draw with Bayern, and he is set to compete with Nicolas Seiwald and Amadou Haidara for a start in centre-midfield alongside Xaver Schlager, who scored in the Champions League against Young Boys two weeks ago, with Xavi Simons and Emil Forsberg operating further forward as advanced midfielders.
Despite scoring five goals in eight games across all competitions so far this season, Benjamin Sesko has only started once for Leipzig, and he may begin again as a substitute on Wednesday with Openda and Yussuf Poulsen set to continue their partnership up front.
As for Man City, Kevin De Bruyne remains sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury, but John Stones (muscle) and Bernardo Silva (leg) have both travelled to Germany and could be involved in the matchday squad on Wednesday.
Rodri is currently serving a domestic suspension, but he is available for selection against Leipzig and Guardiola has revealed that the Spaniard will play in centre-midfield, presumably alongside either Mateo Kovacic or Matheus Nunes.
Gvardiol is in contention to face his former club and will be pushing to replace Nathan Ake on the left side of defence, while Jack Grealish could replace either Jeremy Doku or Phil Foden in the first XI.
Alvarez scored a Champions League brace against Red Star in gameweek one and is expected to continue in attack with Erling Haaland, who has scored 11 goals in just six games versus Leipzig including five last season.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Klostermann, Simakan, Lukeba, Raum; Schlager, Kampl; Simons, Forsberg; Poulsen, Openda
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Foden, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland
We say: RB Leipzig 1-2 Manchester City
Man City may have breezed to victory in their last meeting with Leipzig, but a much closer affair is set to be in store on Wednesday considering the contrasting form of the two teams.
Leipzig will fancy their chances of breaching City's backline, but the return of Rodri is a huge boost for the visitors, who we believe will bounce back from their recent setbacks to claim maximum points, especially if Haaland laces up his shooting boots.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
