Man City to face RB Leipzig in 2nd leg lineup predictions & more. Manchester City is one step closer to claiming its first Champions League trophy with a place in the final eight at stake. Pep Guardiola has not won this tournament since coming to England, but a win against Leipzig would keep his hopes alive in a competition that is wide open this year.
The German side has lost its last three away games against English clubs, conceding an average of four goals per game. It sounds like a perfect recipe for Erling Haaland to continue his impressive goal-scoring record of 17 goals in 11 home fixtures in the competition. The game will take place on March 14, 2023, with kick-off at the Etihad Stadium scheduled for 8 pm. The match will be broadcast live on BT Sport 1 and talkSPORT, with Adrian Durham hosting ‘Around the Grounds’ live from Manchester.
Manchester City is expected to have a full squad available for the game, however, ‘Pep Roulette’ could strike once again. Kevin De Bruyne is likely to return to midfield, while first-leg goalscorer Riyad Mahrez will be competing for a starting spot. As for Leipzig, Christopher Nkunku will miss out due to injury, and midfielder Xaver Schlager is also unavailable. Illness has hit the German side’s camp, with Timo Werner, Konrad Laimer, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Lukas Klostermann all affected.
Guardiola has discussed the threat of Leipzig, stating that they are so aggressive in high pressing, have an incredible build-up, plus the keeper. The team has eight players inside, two incredible wide full-backs, and when the opposition team closes inside, they go to full-backs. When the opposition team defends outside, they have more players inside.
It is challenging to control them, so Manchester City must be in the right tempo for pressing. The team must try to find its spaces and places, and their quality to punish Leipzig and hopefully defend well because they are better. Guardiola said that they must win the game and to do so, they must try. It will be a good game, as Leipzig has a fantastic team, and since 2016, when they were in the second division, they have been doing incredibly well.
According to recent stats, Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City has been directly involved in 11 goals in his last 12 starts during the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League. This included 7 goals and 4 assists. Mahrez has also scored in all three of his matches against RB Leipzig in the competition.
RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku has scored 10 goals in his last 12 starts in the UEFA Champions League. This includes a hat-trick against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in September 2021. Interestingly, Nkunku is one of only two players to have scored a hat-trick against Manchester City in the competition. The other player is Lionel Messi, who did it in October 2016.
Erling Haaland from Manchester City has scored 17 goals in 11 home matches in the UEFA Champions League. In seven of these games, he scored at least two goals. On average, Haaland has scored a goal every 49 minutes in these matches.
The last team to defeat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in a UEFA Champions League knockout stage match was Liverpool in the 2017-18 quarter-final second leg. Visiting sides have avoided defeat just once in eight matches since. Manchester City is unbeaten in its last 23 home matches in the UEFA Champions League group stage, winning 20 and drawing three. In 2020-21, Leipzig was eliminated in the round of 16, losing to Liverpool 4-0 on aggregate. This season, the team finished second in Group A, behind PSG. Manchester City topped Group C with 16 points.
