Manchester City
It’s been a successful UCL Group Stage campaign for the Sky Blues secured top spot in Group A with a win against PSG in the previous round. Pep’s men have a record of four wins and just one loss, while they have also scored the highest number of goals in their group (17). They have now won three consecutive matches in the UCL Group Stage and with a place in the Round of 16 already secured they look to end off their campaign in style. With qualification already secured, the Sky Blues will in all likelihood be resting a number of key players when they head to German on Wednesday night and by doing so they may miss out on the opportunity to end off the Group Stage with a win.
Manchester City and Leipzig last met at the Etihad during Round 1 of the group stage back in September. The match was an absolute goal fest with City emerging victorious after the match ended 6-3. It was a comfortable win for the men from Manchester, but still a disappointment that they let in three goals at home. In Round 2 City jetted off to Paris to take on French giants PSG where they lost 2-0. It was a horrible evening for Man City to say the least where they failed to capitalize on their chances which resulted in them leaving the Parc des Princes empty-handed. Next up in Round 3 Man City were in Belgium where they cruised to a 5-1 victory against Club Brugge which included a Riyad Mahrez double. Round 4 saw City take on Club Brugge once again, but this time in Manchester. Pep Guardialo only made two changes to his team that the defeated the Belgians two weeks prior and they secured a comfortable 4-1 win. The only goal they conceded was an own goal and Foden, Mahrez, Sterling and Gabriel Jesus all featured on the scoring sheet.
Round 5 was arguably the most important match of the Group Stage for Man City when they hosted PSG at the Etihad. The top two teams in Group A were set to lock horns and a win for City meant they would guarantee themselves top spot in the group. After a tight first half that didn’t see any goals, the visitors were the first to find the net in the 50th minute courtesy of Kylian Mbappe who pounced on a loose ball inside the box. It didn’t take long for the Sky Blues to hit back though and just ten minutes later Raheem Sterling found himself right in front of the PSG net and equalized for the hosts. Another 10 minutes later Bernardo Silva set up Gabriel Jesus with a beautiful pass inside the box and didn’t waste the opportunity to secure City a 2-1 lead. The hosts were able to keep a tight defense for the remainder of the match and there would be no further goals in the match.
Leipzig
It has not been a successful UCL Group Stage for Leipzig and unfortunately for the German outfit Tuesday will be their final match of this year’s competition. They currently sit in third place in the group with four points and with PSG in second place with eight points, not even a win against City would be enough for Leipzig to sneak into the Round of 16. Ironically Leipzig have been the second-highest scoring team in the group with 13 goals, but a poor defense that has let in just as many goals as they have scored has been their downfall . They have only secured one win along with one draw and three losses. Leipzig’s problems have not been limited to the Champions League and domestically things are not going well either. After a horrible start to the Bundesliga season they have just sacked manager Jesse Marsh and have replaced him with Achim Beierlorzer in the hopes of saving their season. It will be interesting to see if he can make an immediate impact in Tuesday night’s clash and help Leipzig end the group stage on a high.
Leipzig started off their UCL Group Stage with three consecutive losses. The first of these was a 6-3 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad which was followed up with a very disappointing 2-1 loss at home to Club Brugge. In Round 3 Leipzig showed some promise against PSG in Paris and even managed to lead 2-1 after 60 minutes. However, Lionel Messi had other ideas and denied the visitors three points with two late goals. In Round 4 Leipzig were up against PSG again, but this time around they played in Germany. They managed to avoid defeat for the first time in the group stage thanks to a stoppage time equalizer by Dominik Szoboszlai. The match ended 2-2 and they were able to pick up a point against the French giants which was their best group stage result up until this point.
In Round 5 the Leipzig Bulls were up against Club Brugge in Belgium and looking for revenge after their loss in the reverse fixture. The visitors went into this match as favourites and they didn’t waste much time in finding the net. There was a clear determination from Leipzig and it took just 12 minutes before Christopher Nkunku found the net. Emil Forsberg slotted a penalty five minutes later. Andre Silva added the third with a powerful header in the 26th minute, while Emil Forsberg added his second in the dying moments of the first half. After going in into the half-time break with a 4-0 lead, Leizpig spent the entire second half defending their lead and would only add one more goal through Christopher Nkunku in the 93rd minute. Round 5 was the best performance of the group stage for Leipzig, but unfortunately it came a little too late and could only help them avoid the wooden spoon in Group A.
Prediction
Normally this would be a no-brainer victory for Manchester City, but the fact that they will be resting a number of their key players changes things. The odds for them to win the match are just under even money which is suspiciously high for my liking. Furthermore, they have already qualified for the Round of 16 and losing this match will have no impact on the position that they finish in the group. I will be very surprised if they manage to pull off a victory by more than a goal in this match and for me there is a good chance that they might not even be able to do that. I would much rather have a go at backing the home team to win or draw. Although they have been poor in most of their UCL Group Stage matches and their recent Bundesliga matches I feel that their last performance in the UCL against Club Brugge was promising. They also have a new manager in charge and he could quite possibly make a huge impact in his first match at the helm which could see Leipzig pulling off a draw or win. Christopher Nkunku has been the best on attack for Leipzig and I am more than happy to back him to score in the match. He has scored in all but one of Leipzig’s UCL Group Stage matches and also managed a hat-trick when the teams met back in September. I’m also not expecting too many goals in this one and I reckon we will see less than 3.5 goals in the match simply because I don’t think City will be giving it all in this match.
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