admin Champions League holders Manchester City will look to shake off two consecutive home defeats when they travel to Germany for their group stage clash with RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening.
The Citizens and the Red Bulls are currently top of Group G after beating Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys 3-1 in their first game two weeks ago. Despite selling several key players, including Josko Gvardiol, to Manchester City this summer, RB Leipzig have made an impressive start to the season, winning seven, drawing one and losing just one of their first nine games in all competitions.
Just over a month after a comfortable 3-0 win over Bayern Munich in the German Super Cup, the Red Bulls were on their way to another win against the Bavarian giants in the Bundesliga on Saturday as goals from Lois Opendy and Castle Lukeba secured Marco Rose’s team took a 2-0 lead in the first 26 minutes at the Red Bull Arena. However,
Bayern salvaged a 2-2 draw thanks to second-half goals from Harry Kane and Leroy Sane, ending Leipzig’s run of four straight wins in the top flight and dropping Rose’s side to fifth in the table. and missed out on league leaders Bayer Leverkusen by just three points.
Leipzig will be looking forward to a quick return to the Red Bull Arena, where they have recorded 12 wins and 3 draws in three of their last 17 home games across all tournaments since the start of the year, while scoring at least two goals on 11 occasions.
The Red Bulls will be seeking revenge after a heavy 8-1 defeat to the Citizens in last season’s round of 16, a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a subsequent tough 7-0 draw against reigning champions Manchester City.
Away defeat in the second leg. For the first time since January last season, Manchester City suffered consecutive defeats in all competitions, having lost 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup third round against Newcastle United and 2-1 in the Premier League at the end of the week. Prior to this period, the Citizens had lost just two of their last 41 games.
Ruben Dias’ own goal and Hwang Hee-chan’s second-half winner either side of Julian Alvarez’s superb free-kick surprisingly helped Wolves end City’s usual dominance in the final third despite just one shot on target – they took maximum points at Molineux and finished the game Cittadini’039; A good start to the new Premier League season.
A small chink in City’s armor has been exposed in recent weeks as they have lost four times in their last five games and have lost twice in this series.
And Pep Guardiola’s side cannot afford another slow start if they want to get back to winning ways against an in-form Leipzig team who face Arsenal in a Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Manchester City’s impressive form in the Champions League bodes well for Manchester City avoiding a third straight defeat as the team has lost just two of its last 30 group stage games while extending its unbeaten run to 14 games. bounced back from their first week defeat to beat Red Star 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
However, the Triple Crown winners have failed to win their last four away games in Germany, including their previous two trips to Leipzig, with the aforementioned 1-1 draw last season preceded by a 2-1 defeat to the Reds . Bull Arena in the group stage of the 2021-2022 Champions League.
Leipzig midfielder Kevin Kampl was forced out of last weekend’s draw against Bayern with a hip injury and is expected to miss Wednesday, as are Timo Werner (defender), Dani Olmo, Willi Orban and El Chadaille Bitshiabu (broken knee) in the treatment room.
In the event of Kampl’s absence, Nicolas Seiwald or Amadou Haidara are expected to play in central midfield along with Xaver Schlager, who scored against Young Boys in the Champions League two weeks ago, while Xavi Simons and Emil Forsberg will continue to act as midfielders in attack progressive.
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 (hamstring) and John Stones (muscle) remain sidelined with injuries, while Bernardo Silva (leg) is doubtful and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Rodri is currently serving a domestic suspension, but he is available to play on Wednesday and is expected to slot into centre-midfield 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 set 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; Henrichs, Simakan, Lukeba, Raum; Schlager, Seiwald; Simons, Forsberg; Poulsen, Openda
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovacic; Foden, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland
