RB Leipzig v Manchester City: Champions League preview, predicted line-ups & tips
Leipzig sit 28th and City 12th in the league phase. Our preview covers team news, predicted XIs, the Haaland threat and a score prediction for Matchday 4.
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What is at stake in Leipzig?
It is only Matchday 4, but the league-phase table already has a way of making a night feel heavier than it should.
RB Leipzig sit 28th with three points from three games, which is outside the play-off places and not a spot any home side wants to be in this early.
Manchester City are 12th on six points, inside the play-off positions but a long way from the comfort of the top eight.
For City, a win at the Red Bull Arena would be a first step towards avoiding the extra round in February.
For Leipzig, it is a chance to show that the Champions League campaign has not already slipped away.
RB Leipzig
Manchester CityHow did they get here?
Leipzig have had a bumpy ride. They opened with a 4-1 defeat at Como, then beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 at home, and last time out were beaten 4-1 at Real Madrid.
That adds up to three goals scored and eight conceded, all of those eight on the road, so the home record is at least tidy: one win and a clean sheet.
City have been just as hard to pin down. They won 2-0 at Porto in their opening game, then lost 4-2 at home to Paris Saint Germain.
They bounced back with a 5-1 win over AEK Athens at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland's four goals so far making him the club's main threat in the competition.
City have scored nine in three and conceded five, which tells you most of what you need to know about the sort of game this tends to be.
Will there be rotation?
City play a lot of football, and there is always a chance of the manager freshening things up when the schedule bites.
However, with the side 12th and a playoff place the worst-case outcome, a strong XI is the likelier call.
Leipzig have little room for experiments either. Three points would lift them off the foot of the pack, and with four players missing, the hosts' options are already limited.
Expect both sides to name close to their best available teams, with perhaps one or two tweaks.
RB LeipzigManchester City
Line-ups
RB Leipzig4-3-3- 26GM. Vandevoordt
- 17DR. Baku
- 4DW. Orbán
- 23DC. Lukeba
- 22DD. Raum
- 21MN. El Aynaoui
- 14MC. Baumgartner
- 6ME. Banzuzi
- 10FB. Gruda
- 40FRômulo
- 7FA. Nusa
Manchester City4-2-3-1- 1GG. Donnarumma
- 27DMatheus Nunes
- 45DA. Khusanov
- 6DM. Guéhi
- 33DN. O'Reilly
- 5ME. Anderson
- 17ME. Fernández
- 47MP. Foden
- 10MR. Cherki
- 7MI. Ndiaye
- 9FE. Haaland
Kick-off time and where to watch
Kick-off at the Red Bull Arena is at 8pm UK time (20:00 GMT) on Wednesday 4 November.
The UK broadcaster for this fixture has not been confirmed, and this page will be updated closer to kick-off.
If the game is level after 90 minutes, this is a league-phase match, so there is no extra time or penalty shoot-out. It is a single game rather than a two-legged tie.
Cup stats and head-to-head
- The sides have met six times in the Champions League, with City winning four, Leipzig one and one draw.
- Those six meetings have averaged five goals a game, and five of the six had both teams scoring and more than 2.5 goals.
- The most recent meeting was a 3-2 City win at the Etihad Stadium in November 2023.
- City's biggest win in the series was 7-0 at home in the March 2023 last-16 second leg.
Match Result: Manchester City to win
You have to feel City have too much for a Leipzig side that has shipped eight goals in three games, and the form points that way. City have averaged three goals a game and took 21 shots a match in their recent games, while Leipzig have averaged 2.67 conceded. However, the hosts do have a habit of scoring in this fixture, and City's defence has conceded five in three, so it would be no shock to see Leipzig get one back. City to win, with goals at both ends.