RB Leipzig vs. Man City lineups confirmed: Captain Haaland as Cherki, Foden, Guehi decisions made for Champions League game

Erling Haaland will captain Manchester City in tonight’s Champions League clash against RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena.

The prolific Norwegian drew a blank in front of goal in City’s 1-0 Premier League home defeat to Brighton last weekend, but he has scored more goals against Leipzig (12 in just eight games) than he has against any other opponent in his career and will be looking to add to his tally in Germany.

Manager Enzo Maresca has made a total of four changes to his starting lineup, with Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly, Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden all recalled at the expense of Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Jeremy Doku.

Haaland will wear the captain’s armband in the absence of Dias, who will begin on the substitutes’ bench for the first time this season in either the Champions League or Premier League.

Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov will therefore start together at centre-back, with Matheus Nunes and O’Reilly playing either side of them as full-backs.

Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez retain their midfield partnership, with Cherki returning to operate in the number 10 role as Foden and Iliman Ndiaye begin out wide in support of Haaland leading the line.

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Baumgartner, Baku recalled to Leipzig XI, Nkunku on bench  

As for Leipzig, head coach Martin Demichelis – a former Man City defender – has made just two changes to the side that began the 2-0 win over Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga last weekend.

Christoph Baumgartner is fit to start in centre-midfield alongside Neil El Aynaoui and Ezechiel Banzuzi, with the Austrian coming into the first XI at the expense of Rocco Reitz.

The other change sees Ridle Baku replace Benjamin Henrichs at right-back, joining Willi Orban, Castello Lukeba and David Raum in a four-man defence.

Antonio Nusa and Romulo Cardoso, who were both on target against Schalke, continue in a three-man frontline next to Brighton loanee Brajan Gruda.

Christopher Nkunku, who scored a memorable UCL hat-trick against Man City in a 6-3 defeat at the Etihad in 2021-22, will begin as a substitute along with defender Maxime Esteve, who has recovered from a knock to make the matchday squad.

RB Leipzig starting lineup: Vandevoordt; Baku, Orban, Lukeba, Raum; Baumgartner, Banzuzi, El Aynaoui; Gruda, Romulo, Nusa

Subs: Nyland, Kone, Esteve, Klostermann, Henrichs, Seiwald, Reitz, Maksimovic, Bakayoko, Gomis, Nkunku

Manchester City starting lineup: Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Anderson, Fernandez; Ndiaye, Cherki, Foden; Haaland

Subs: Bettinelli, Rulli, Dias, Kovacic, Doku, Ait-Nouri, Reis, Gvardiol, Bouaddi, Allan, Samba, Lewis