Does Haaland build his

There are games in international football that become a running gag and are drawn from the lottery pots time and time again. For the third year in a row, a German upstart and the reigning title holders now face each other in the Champions League. In our RB Leipzig vs Manchester City tip, we look at whether the Bulls can hold a candle to the Cityzens on Wednesday.

In Group G of this year’s top flight, the signs should be relatively clear. It would be extremely surprising if we did not see RB Leipzig and Manchester City again in the last 16. Both have won their opening game. Young Boys Bern and Red Star Belgrade are still without a point at the bottom of the table and will probably decide the all-important third place between themselves in the end.

The first direct duel between the two clubs from the Bundesliga and the Premier League could already point the way towards winning the group. Bookmaker Interwetten sees the English as favourites on Wednesday. When you travel as defending champions, that is certainly understandable, even if the Cityzens often have their problems away from home in the Champions League.

The Saxons could become the second team after Atletico Madrid to win twice in a row against the reigning champions. RB’s last win against the defending champions came against Real Madrid, and now they could have a second success against Pep Guardiola’s team. However, we would not necessarily want to go that far. We would tend not to predict a home victory between RB Leipzig and Manchester City.

RB Leipzig – Statistics & current form

Marco Rose’s team is in really good form. Both the current balance sheets and the last results in the Champions League are impressive. In the top flight, the Bullen have lost only one of their last seven games. However, the Saxons suffered their worst defeat in the pre-season at the hands of Manchester City and it was an extremely clear 7:0.

Strong form for the top match against the defending champions

In the Bundesliga, RB lost their first game of the season at strong Leverkusen. But that was also the only defeat out of eight competitive games this season. Leipzig have already won their first title with the Supercup and with fifth place in the Bundesliga, they can go into Wednesday’s match relatively relaxed.

But it’s hard to say whether they will finally succeed in winning their first two group matches in the premier league. We tend to see the visitors as having a slight advantage, but would not blindly play the odds on an away win between RB Leipzig and Manchester City either. RasenBallsport have been too strong in recent weeks for that.

That became clear again last Saturday in the Bundesliga top match against Bayern Munich. Nobody thinks of Christopher Nkunku, Dominik Szoboszlai or Josko Gvardiol anymore when you have Xavi Simmons, Lois Openda and Castello Lukeba in your ranks. Against FCB, the Saxons went 2-0 ahead through goals from Openda and Lukeba, but had to swallow the equaliser in the second half. In the end, Benjamin Sesko, another promising newcomer, even had the winning goal on his foot, but failed to beat the Bayern keeper in a promising position.

Predicted line-up of RB Leipzig:

RB Leipzig (Expected line-up) 4-4-2

Manchester City – Statistics & current form

Manchester City are the measure of all things in European football and have already shown again this season what Pep Guardiola’s team is capable of. After seven matchdays, the Cityzens sit top of the English Premier League standings with 18 points and have already set their sights on the championship at this early stage of the new season.

Haaland with top scores against RB

All that glitters is not gold for the reigning Champions League winners either, however, with two defeats in their last two competitive matches. Possibly, however, these were dampers at the right time to now get back on the road to success in Germany. Especially with Erling Haaland. The Norwegian has scored a whopping eleven goals in six games against the Bullen. So we can’t avoid making a prediction on a goal by the goal scorer between RB Leipzig and Manchester City.

German clubs suit the Cityzens. Of the last 21 games against Bundesliga clubs, Manchester City have lost only one. That defeat came in December 2021, at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig of all places. On top of that, City have celebrated just one win in their last eight Champions League away games, failing to get beyond a draw in Dortmund, Munich and Leipzig.

Last weekend, everything went against the Skyblues. Pep Guardiola was once again suspended for the visit of Wolverhampton and had to watch from the stands as his side lost 2-1. Ruben Dias gave Wolves the lead with an own goal. Julian Alvarez equalised, but Wolverhampton scored the celebrated winner shortly afterwards.

Predicted Manchester City line-up:

Manchester City (Expected line-up) 4-2-3-1

RB Leipzig – Manchester City Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

This is the third year in a row that RB Leipzig and Manchester City have faced each other in the Champions League. This results in four games so far. The direct comparison is 2:1 in favour of the Cityzens after victories. The Bulls have won one match. It is striking that Manchester have won both home games, but are still waiting for a success at the Red Bull Arena.

Last season, this encounter took place in the round of 16. The first leg in Leipzig ended in a 1-1 draw, so Marco Rose and his team travelled to Manchester full of hope, but they suffered a bitter 7-0 defeat. Erling Haaland scored five times in this match alone. Incidentally, the two coaches have also met four times so far and Marco Rose is still waiting for his first win against Pep Guardiola.

RB Leipzig – Manchester City Tip

RB Leipzig is really in a good form. Marco Rose’s team has been unbeaten for seven competitive matches. In the Champions League, there was only one defeat in the last seven games. Against many teams on the continent, the Bulls would certainly be favoured with these figures, but with Manchester City, perhaps the best team in the world is currently coming to the Red Bull Arena.

However, it is easy to prove that the Cityzens are also vulnerable. They have suffered two defeats in their last two competitive matches. In addition, the Skyblues have only won one of their last eight away matches in the top flight. We therefore don’t see much value in the quotes on a success for Pep Guardiola and his team and would not place a bet on an away win between RB Leipzig and Manchester City in the Bwin App.

In general, though, we’re holding back on a clear commitment to a home win, even though we think the Bullen should be able to score on Wednesday. A lot will depend on whether the Saxon defence can shut down Erling Haaland. That will certainly be a Herculean task, but we’ve still decided to play the double chance 1X betting odds between RB Leipzig and Manchester City.