Manchester City vs RB Leipzig Preview

The UEFA Champions League returns this Tuesday with defending champions Manchester City welcoming German side RB Leipzig to the Etihad for the penultimate group stage game of the campaign.

The Cityzens have been impeccable so far in their title defence, winning each of their group games while scoring 12 times and conceding only three. As such, they come into this round already qualified for the knockout stage.

They sit three points ahead of Leipzig, who are also eligible for the next round thanks to the woeful form of the other two teams in the group (Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys), Pep Guardiola’s side are now only playing for a top of the table finish. They will finish top of the group if they win here.

Their chance of recording a win is good, given that the hosts are unbeaten in 28 European home matches (W26, D2). They will also be desperate to get back to winning ways after missing the chance to equal the longest-ever winning home run by an English top-division side when they drew 1-1 against Liverpool at the weekend (D 1-1).

Meanwhile, RB Leipzig come into this tie looking to return to winning ways after a a disappointing 2-1 loss to Wolfsburg at the weekend pushed them out of the top four places. They now trail Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen by eleven points after just a dozen games.

With two losses in their last three league games, things are not looking right for Marco Rose’s side in the league.

They remain in good shape in Europe and will be hoping to win here to give them a slim chance of finishing at the top of Group G.

But to beat City and give themselves a chance of achieving a top of the table finish, they will need everything working perfectly, considering they lost 7-0 at this venue here last season. And although such embarrassing results are few and far between, it’s hard to see Leipzig getting a win in England, given their last three visits all ended in defeats by at least a three-goal margin.