RB Leipzig vs Man Citypredicted line-ups, prediction and how to watch

Predicted line-ups, prediction and how to watch for RB Leipzig vs Man City: everything you need to know before the game.

RB Leipzig host Manchester City at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday at 14:00 (Mexico City time) in matchday four of the Champions League league phase.

The hosts sit 30th of 36 with three points and a goal difference of -5. The visitors are 10th on six points and +4.

Match preview

Leipzig arrive on a run of three wins across different competitions, following two heavy defeats. They lost 6-1 to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga on October 17 and 4-1 at Real Madrid in the Champions League four days later.

They have responded with a 4-0 win over Elversberg, a 2-1 victory at Rot-Weiß Essen in the DFB Pokal and a 2-0 success at Schalke on October 31. Across those three games they scored eight and conceded one.

In this season's Champions League, Martin Demichelis's side have three points from three games. They won their only home match 1-0 but lost both away fixtures, scoring twice and conceding eight.

<cite index="28-16">Antonio Nusa is in fine form and creating chances for others.</cite> Brajan Gruda and Christopher Nkunku complete the creative group behind the striker.

City have six points, with two wins and one defeat in the league phase. They won 2-0 on their only away trip and have scored seven and conceded five in two home games.

Their Premier League form is a different story. They lost 2-1 at Aston Villa, drew 2-2 with Brighton in the League Cup and then lost 1-0 to the same opponents on October 31. They conceded five goals across those three matches.

Before that, they thrashed AEK Athens 5-1 in the Champions League and beat Ipswich 3-2 in the league. Erling Haaland has four goals and Phil Foden three. <cite index="3-5">Haaland has scored 12 times in eight appearances against Leipzig, more than against any other opponent.</cite>

The recent head-to-head favours the visitors. In the last five meetings, all in the Champions League, City won three (3-2, 3-1 and 7-0), drew 1-1 and lost 2-1 in December 2021.

There is more at stake than three points. Leipzig are in the bottom half of the table and need results, while City want to secure a place among the leaders. Demichelis also played for City, and Gvardiol was at Leipzig until 2023.

Team news

<cite index="4-3">Leipzig are without Marc Guiu (muscle) and Assan Ouédraogo (shoulder), while Maxime Estève is a doubt with a knock.</cite> <cite index="28-15">Estève missed the win at Schalke.</cite>

<cite index="4-3">ESPN projects Maarten Vandevoordt in goal, Willi Orbán and Castello Lukeba in central defence, and Nusa, Nkunku and Gruda supporting Rômulo.</cite>

<cite index="3-3">For City, Antoine Semenyo is the only absentee, with a knee injury that needs several weeks of treatment.</cite> <cite index="1-6">Marc Guéhi is pushing to start at centre-back and Nico O'Reilly could replace Gvardiol at left-back.</cite>

<cite index="3-4,3-5">Rayan Cherki was left out of the starting lineup against Brighton. Haaland is all but certain to lead the line.</cite> Sources differ on City's XI, so the one we list is ESPN's projection.

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