Manchester City travels to Leipzig on matchday six in Europe’s premier club competition already guaranteed top spot in their group. Their victory against PSG in the last matchday ensured that this fixture was a dead rubber for the Citizens.
The German side can still qualify for the Europa League by finishing third in the Champions League and a win would certainly help them achieve that objective. The reigning English champions won’t make life easy for them. Manchester City has a tremendous away record against German sides and is undefeated in their last six away matches in Germany.
RB Leipzig on the other hand has not fared so well against English opponents losing their last three fixtures. Home and away to Liverpool in the 2020 version of the champions league and the reverse fixture against Manchester City this season.
RB Leipzig vs Manchester City FYIs:
Kick-off time: 5.45 PM GMT, 7th December 2021
Man City Starting XI Prediction: go here
Form Guide (All Competitions): RB Leipzig (WLWLL) Man City (WWWWW)
On to the important stuff- who is fit and who isn’t for Manchester City?
The news is relatively good for last season’s finalists. City will be missing Ferran Torres as they have been for quite some time now. The Spanish speedster is still nursing the broken metatarsal bone in his foot and will likely be missing until next year.
Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus didn’t travel with the squad either. He missed the match against Watford with a knock and it seems the knock is still bad enough to keep him out for the second match in a row.
There is good news on the injury front as superstar trio Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Kevin De Bruyne have all put their respective injury and sickness woes behind them.
Grealish and Foden returned in the victory against Aston Villa, whilst Belgian superstar De Bruyne made his return from the bench against Watford.
These dead rubbers are always tricky to predict. I am expecting a much-changed City squad as Pep Guardiola opts to rest players during what is a hectic run of games. I might go with the upset here – RB Leipzig to win and qualify for the Europa League.