Manchester City travel to RB Leipzig this evening for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.
City have a point to prove this evening after they were held to a frustrating draw by Nottingham Forest at the weekend. For the most part, the Blues dominated their opponents at the City Ground but only had one goal for their good play.
Chris Wood’s late equaliser for Forest would not only see the points shared but also leave the Blues lagging in the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola’s men are now two points behind Arsenal who also have a game in hand.
Plenty of recognisable faces for Leipzig
RB Leipzig have plenty of recognisable names in their starting line up across the team, and it’s a reminder that City cannot take them lightly. This Leipzig side beat Real Madrid earlier in the season, and the Blues lost at the RB Arena in last season’s final group game – albeit in a dead rubber. In the opening group game, Leipzig took City all the way at home, scoring three times in an entertaining 6-3 win. The hat-trick hero from that day, Christopher Nkunku, is only fit enough for a place on the bench today. Guardiola said yesterday he hoped that Nkunku could play, but he may be relieved to see he’s not in the starting XI
City are England’s best hope of winning the Champions League
Speaking after Liverpool’s big defeat to Real Madrid last night, Michael Owen told BT Sport that the Blues are this country’s best hope of winning the Champions League this season.
He said:
They appear to be England’s best hope at the moment. If Real Madrid were coming back here for the second leg you’d think maybe, it’s happened before, but not to the Bernabeu
Return to a back four
So it’s a return to a back four for City, which makes sense given the Leipzig threat of Dominik Szoboszlai on the right wing. Having Dias and Akanji as the centre-back pair limits how much City can build from the back, and two right-footers isn’t ideal, but Guardiola has little choice and has opted to push Bernardo Silva into his more familiar midfield role. Will he be tasked with his defensive roaming brief like recent games, or will Ilkay Gundogan sit and Bernardo be tasked with probing forward
RB Leipzig XI vs City
Here is how our hosts line-up:
Blaswich, Orban, Forsberg, Werner, Klostermann, Szoboszlai, Silva, Halstenberg, Schlager, Laimer, Gvardiol
Subs:
Nyland, Nickisch, Simakan, Haidara, Poulsen, Nkunku, Raum, Henrichs, Kampl
City XI vs RB Leipzig
Here is your Man City team for tonight’s Champions League tie:
Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Gundogan, Haaland, Grealish, Rodri, Bernardo, Akanji, Mahrez
Subs:
Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Alvarez, Gomez, Perrone, Foden, Charles, Palmer, Lewis, Robertson