RB Leipzig v Manchester City: Champions League preview, predicted line-ups and tips

It's matchday four of the Champions League league phase, and neither side can afford to drift.

Leipzig are 19th on three points, inside the play-off places but with little margin for error.

Manchester City are 10th on six points, which is perfectly respectable, though a 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint Germain earlier this month showed how quickly the gloss can come off.

Win in Germany and City will fancy their chances of pushing towards the top eight and skipping the play-offs altogether.

Lose, and Leipzig will be staring at a very awkward back half of the campaign.

Leipzig have had a stop-start league phase, with one win and two defeats from three games.

The win was a 1-0 home victory over PSV Eindhoven, the defeats a 4-1 loss at Como and, most recently, a 4-1 loss at Real Madrid.

That adds up to eight goals shipped in three games, an average of 2.7 a match, and all eight have come away from home.

Manchester City have a similar record on paper, with two wins and one defeat, but a very different goal column.

They won 2-0 at Porto, lost 4-2 to PSG, then thrashed AEK Athens 5-1 at home last time out, with Erling Haaland's four goals leading the way.

City average three goals a game in the competition. Their away form has been a little more cautious, with that Porto win the only trip so far.

Nothing we've found tells us either manager plans wholesale changes, and with both sides still chasing a comfortable league phase finish, a strong XI looks likelier than a reshuffle.

Leipzig have little reason to protect anyone, given their position and the fact that the defence needs all the help it can get.

City have more depth to call on, so a change or two in midfield would not be a surprise, but Haaland leading the line looks a safe bet.

They have also lost 1-0 to Brighton in the Premier League since the AEK game, which hardly argues for experimenting.

Leipzig (4-2-3-1): Vandevoordt; Henrichs, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum; Seiwald, Banzuzi; Nusa, Nkunku, Bakayoko; Konate.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; O'Reilly, Dias, Guéhi, Gvardiol; Kovačić, Bouaddi; Doku, Foden, Cherki; Haaland.

The midfield pairing is the likeliest place for City to tinker, while Leipzig's back four depends on who is fit.

Kick-off at Red Bull Arena is 20:00 GMT (UK time) on Wednesday 4 November.

The match is shown live in the UK on TNT Sports where selected.

This is a single league phase match rather than a two-legged tie, but there are no draws allowed in the sense that nothing is settled by extra time, so if it's level after 90 minutes the points are simply shared.