RB Leipzig vs Manchester City (UEFA Champions League Group Stage): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

Having lost to Wolves in the Premier League, Manchester City travel to Leipzig as they try to make it two wins from as many games in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

Despite having the majority of possession, Manchester City fell at the hands of Wolves as they stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday afternoon, succumbing to successive domestic defeats.

Pedro Neto was the star-man for the opening goal of the affair, as the Portuguese winger battled hard with Nathan Ake down City’s left-hand side before his cross was turned in by the 23-year-old’s fellow country-man Ruben Dias.

Julian Alvarez, who has started the season in top form, levelled the scoreline for Pep Guardiola’s side in expert fashion when he converted a free-kick from the edge of Wolves’ penalty area.

However, City remained level for just eight minutes as Hwang Hee-chan restored Wolves’ lead with a scrappy goal in the 66th minute.

Now, Guardiola and his team turn their attention to a fixture that is slowly becoming a regular occurrence in the Champions League in recent times: Manchester City vs RB Leipzig.

Marco Rose’s team started off their European campaign with a 3-1 win in Switzerland against Young Boys.

The Bundesliga side took the lead in the 3^rd minute through Mohamed Simakan, but the Swiss outfit equalised 30 minutes later through a fantastic strike from Meschak Elia.

Despite the setback, RB Leipzig continued to push for a goal. It took them until halfway through the second-half, but their efforts were successful when Xaver Schlager found the back of the net from range with a magnificent strike.

New-signing Benjamin Sesko extended their lead in the dying minutes of the match, to set-up a potential defining Group G clash at the Red Bull Arena with Manchester City.

Fixture Details

Manchester City will take on RB Leipzig on Wednesday 4^th October at the Red Bull Arena, with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 BST.

Team News

John Stones and Bernardo Silva have both returned to first-team training. Guardiola announced in his press conference that a decision would be made on their involvements in the tie on Wednesday.

Rodri will play in this fixture as his domestic suspension doesn’t apply to the UEFA Champions League.

Benjamin Henrichs will miss the match due to a minor hamstring strain whilst Kevin Kampl and Yussuf Poulsen have recovered from injury and will be available for selection for Leipzig.

Timo Werner and Amadou Haidara will also be able to take part in the affair, having recovered from back pains and a muscle injury, respectively.

Willi Orban is out for around 10 weeks with a knee injury and Dani Olmo is unlikely to feature having picked up a knock to his right knee during the international break vs Georgia.

Head to Head

In recent times, this fixture has been played out semi-regularly in this competition. Both sides have squared off against each other in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 editions of the Champions League.

With two wins, one draw and one loss in four matches, City have had mixed results against the German side.

Goals are something that come often when the two teams take to the pitch, with fans being treated to 21 goals in the four matches, albeit usually at the Etihad Stadium.

In fact, Guardiola’s side are yet to win at the Red Bull Arena, ahead of Wednesday’s Group Stage meeting.

Match Stats

–Manchester City have lost just one of their last 21 matches in this competition against German sides. The only defeat came in this fixture in December 2021.

–RB Leipzig have lost one of their last seven Champions League fixtures (five wins and one draw) and that came in a 7-0 defeat against Manchester City.

–RB Leipzig are looking to win their opening two group stage matches for the first time.

–Manchester City set a new record for the most shots inside the box in the Champions League, since Opta records began, against Crvena Zvezda (28).

How to Watch

For fans in the United Kingdom, the match will be televised on TNT Sports 1.

For fans living elsewhere, you can find the complete TV listings here!

City Xtra will have live coverage of the contest on Youtube via a live Watchalong show on our channel!