Preview: RB Leipzig vs Manchester City - prediction, team news, lineups

Former Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis will lead his RB Leipzig side into Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with the Citizens at the Red Bull Arena.

The two teams butt heads for the first time since November 2023 when City came from two goals down at half time to win 3-2 in a thrilling group-stage contest at the Etihad Stadium.

Match preview

Just three days after edging past Brighton & Hove Albion on penalties in the EFL Cup fourth round, Man City delivered a surprisingly toothless display against the same opponent last Saturday as they fell to a narrow 1-0 home defeat in the Premier League.

For the third time this season, Enzo Maresca’s side conceded inside the opening 15 minutes, with Yasin Ayari’s goal enough to condemn the Citizens to back-to-back Premier League losses as well as surrender top spot to champions Arsenal.

City will be desperate to return to winning ways in their next top-flight fixture at Nottingham Forest prior to November’s international break, but they must first shift their attention to the Champions League where they have accumulated six points from their opening three League Phase fixtures.

Sitting 10th in the 36-team standings, the Sky Blues suffered a 4-2 home defeat to holders Paris Saint-Germain in between victories against Porto (2-0) and AEK Athens (5-1), beating the latter with a much-changed side a fortnight ago.

Man City have come out on top in only eight of their last 20 Champions League matches (D2 L10), but they head to Germany having won four of their previous six meetings with Leipzig (D1 L1) while they have also prevailed in 21 of their 32 UCL encounters against German opposition (D5 L6).

After a season without European competition, RB Leipzig are back in the Champions League this term and have picked up just three points from their first three matches, leaving them down in 29th place in the 36-team League Phase table.

Die Roten Bullen edged to a slender 1-0 home win over Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on matchday two, courtesy of a late goal from Brajan Gruda, but this result took place in between heavy 4-1 away defeats to both Como and Real Madrid.

Appointed head coach in June, Martin Demichelis has won eight and lost five of his 13 matches in charge of Leipzig in all competitions; they beat Schalke 04 by a 2-0 scoreline last Saturday to climb up to fourth in the Bundesliga standings, just three points behind unbeaten leaders Bayern Munich.

Demichelis made 15 appearances for Wednesday’s opponents Man City in the Champions League between 2013-14 and 2015-16, with the former Argentine defender scoring once in a 2-1 win away against Borussia Monchengladbach in September 2015.

The 45-year-old is now aiming to steer his Leipzig side to their fourth consecutive victory in all competitions and their first over Man City since they celebrated a 2-1 home triumph in the 2021-22 group stage. However, Die Roten Bullen have lost their last five UEFA games against English opposition.

RB Leipzig Champions League form:

RB Leipzig form (all competitions):

Manchester City Champions League form:

Manchester City form (all competitions):

Team News

RB Leipzig duo Assan Ouedraogo (shoulder) and Marc Guiu (muscle) remain sidelined with injuries, while former Burnley defender Maxime Esteve is doubtful with a knock that forced him to miss last weekend’s win over Schalke.

Christopher Nkunku watched on as an unused substitute last time out and it remains to be seen whether he will be fit to start on Wednesday; the Frenchman is one of only five UCL players to score a hat-trick and finish on the losing team, with his memorable treble coming in a 6-3 defeat at Man City in 2021-22.

Antonio Nusa, who has scored a team-high five goals this season, could start on the left side of front three next to Gruda and Romulo Cardoso, while Christoph Baumgartner may be fit to start in centre-midfield at the expense of Rocco Reitz.

As for Man City, their only injury concern is with attacker Antoine Semenyo, who will likely target a return from a knee injury in mid-December.

Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden are two strong contenders to earn a recall, the latter of whom score a hat-trick in City’s convincing win over AEK Athens. At least one of Ayyoub Bouaddi, Enzo Fernandez or Elliot Anderson could therefore make way.

Marc Guehi is pushing to start at centre-back alongside either Abdukodir Khusanov or Ruben Dias, while Josko Gvardiol – who scored for Leipzig against Man City in the first leg of a last-16 tie in the 2022-23 Champions League – could be replaced at left-back by Nico O'Reilly.

Erling Haaland has scored more goals against Leipzig (12 goals, eight games) than against any other opponent in his career, including a UCL record-equalling five strikes in City's 7-0 win in the second leg of the last-16 tie in 2022-23. Few would be surprised to see the prolific Norwegian start again on Wednesday.

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:

Vandevoordt; Baku, Orban, Lukeba, Raum; Banzuzi, El Aynaoui, Baumgartner; Gruda, Romulo, Nusa

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Nunes, Dias, Guehi, O'Reilly; Anderson, Fernandez; Foden, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

We say: RB Leipzig 2-4 Manchester City

The previous six meetings between Leipzig and Man City have produced 30 goals – an average of five per game – so an entertaining, end-to-end encounter can be expected on Wednesday.

The Citizens have conceded 12 goals in their last six matches and continue to look vulnerable at the back, providing Leipzig with plenty of optimism. However, we are backing Maresca’s men to rediscover their clinical touch and outscore their German counterparts in a six-goals thriller.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.