Looking to avenge years of Champions League heartbreak, Manchester City begins their quest for European success against RB Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday evening. Last season in the last 16 Leipzig was eliminated by Liverpool, while the hosts were defeated by Chelsea in the final. Here is everything you need to know about Manchester City vs RB Leipzig football prediction, team news, and lineup for the first Champions League match of the season.
Team news
Manchester City
Zack Steffen will be disqualified as he tested COVID-19 positive and Benjamin Mendy has been remanded in police custody.
This season, John Stones and Oleksandr Zinchenko have yet to start a competitive game for City, so they will be hoping for some defensive rotation.
Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, and Riyad Mahrez are all in contention for the visitors.
RB Leipzig
Marcelo Saracchi and Marcel Halstenberg will miss the trip to Manchester due to injuries.
Jesse Marsch might start Lukas Klostermann in place of Nordi Mukiele at right-back and Angelino, who played 58 minutes of his injury comeback last weekend, but is expected to start here
Tyler Adams, Amadou Haidara, and Emil Forsberg were among the substitutes in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to Bayern Munich and could return to the starting lineup.
Manchester City vs RB Leipzig Prediction
Manchester City will be looking to get their European campaign off to a winning start after winning the last three Premier League games.
RB Leipzig was humiliated by Bayern in Leipzig on Saturday and has struggled under Jesse Marsch. City has the greater depth and is on a three-game winning streak.
Leipzig has a lot of attacking talent in spite of their struggles, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Marsch’s team managed to break the Premier League champions’ defensive resistance.
On the other hand, City has had a far superior start to the season and has their sights firmly set on the prize this time around, so we can only back Guardiola’s men to win convincingly.
Lineup
Manchester City possible starting lineup: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, Silva; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Sterling
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup: Gulacsi; Klostermann, Orban, Simakan, Angelino; Laimer, Haidara; Nkunku, Olmo, Szoboszlai; Silva
Our Prediction: Manchester City 3-1 RB Leipzig
