Champions League: City Set to Complete the Job

Manchester City vs RB Leipzig

The Group G qualifiers are set to face off when Marco Rose takes Red Bull Leipzig to the Etihad Stadium for a Champions League clash with Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s City can guarantee they will make it to the Round of 16 as Group G winners if they avoid defeat against Leipzig, but the reigning European champions will be aiming for a perfect finish at the group stage.

The Sky Blues made a flying start to their European Campaign with a win over Red Star Belgrade and they haven’t looked back. The Champions League 2023 odds have backed them to defend their title from the off, currently at SBOTOP odds of 3.00 to pick up the European crown. The hosts beat Young Boys to make it four from four, last time out, while Leipzig won on their trip to Belgrade to guarantee their progress; but an outing to Manchester is an entirely different proposition.

Talking Points

Pep happy with his Sky Blues  

Manchester City’s lunchtime showdown with Liverpool turned out to be a frustrating affair for the Sky Blues. Erling Haaland scored his 50^th Premier League goal and his strike looked to be the winner until Trent Alexander-Arnold popped up to grab a late equaliser for the Reds. It was a disappointing result for City but Guardiola was full of praise for both teams, saying: “We are hungry and upset in the locker room, but it was an incredibly great game. Statistics or who deserved it more don’t count. I am pleased about the performance because Liverpool are an incredible team.” 

The Sky Blues had 60 per cent possession and won the shot counts by 16 to eight and five to three on target. It was the first time Manchester City had failed to win at home in 2023 and that’s a statistic which doesn’t read well for their next opponents. And Guardiola is hoping to welcome some key players back to his squad, with Jack Grealish recovered from illness and Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic also in line for a return.        

All eyes will be on Haaland, who made it four goals for the campaign with a brace against Young Boys, and Julian Alvarez who has three goals so far.  

Red Bull have room to improve

With knockout qualification already in the bag, Leipzig can feel happy with their European campaign but they have been lacklustre in their domestic league so far. Defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday left Red Bull in fifth place in the Bundesliga and already 11 points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen. Yussuf Poulsen scored Leipzig’s equaliser against the Wolves but they failed to kick on.     

Rose was philosophical in defeat, saying: “Wolfsburg seem to have our number at the moment. To be honest, I’m really unhappy. I think we did a lot of things right today, but when all’s said and done, we had 90 minutes to turn the game around and we just couldn’t do it”

Red Bull’s big players really need to up their game on Tuesday or they are staring in the face of defeat in Manchester. Lois Openda and Xavi Simons have scored two goals each in the campaign and they are set to start against City, while Christoph Baumgartner will have his hands full in the midfield battle. At the back, 20 year old French centre back Castello Lukeba is an exciting prospect and his stock will continue to rise if he can somehow keep Haaland and Alvarez at bay.     

History

These two teams have met five times over the last couple of years and the Premier League champs have won three of the meetings with a draw and a solitary victory for the Germans. City beat Red Bull 3-1 in this year’s competition as Alvarez and tricky winger Jeremy Doku scored late goals in Leipzig, but last season they tore into the Bundesliga side with a 7-0 home win in the Round of 16.    

Recent form favours the hosts too. City have won four and drawn two of their last six games while Die Roten Bullen have won three and drawn three; and the Sky Blues are unbeaten in seven and unbeaten in 28 matches at the Etihad Stadium.  

Betting Tip

With a perfect set of Champions League 2023 results so far, Guardiola’s men are one of three teams with a 100 per cent record, alongside the other serious contenders of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and, at odds of 1.31 really shouldn’t slip up here, with Leipzig at odds of 6.56 and the draw at 4.84. I doubt it will be 7-0 but I think it will be a comfortable night for the hosts.

 

●●●

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS

Stay updated with everything sports and betting.

Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.