Manchester City will be desperate to make amends for last weekend’s disappointment when they tackle Leipzig in their Champions League meeting on Wednesday.
Group G could well be a straight shoot-out between Leipzig and City for top spot, such is the gulf in class between them and the other two group representatives — Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys.
Pep Guardiola’s charges stumbled to their first defeat of their Premier League campaign when they slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat on the road to Wolves, and it will have prompted some questions.
Leipzig, meanwhile, have been bobbing along nicely, and although they are fifth in the Bundesliga, they held Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw at home last weekend.
City may well be sweating on the fitness of Bernardo Silva in the run-up to kick-off, but Leipzig have no reported injury issues to contend with.
We could well be in for a special evening at the Red Bull Arena, but how will this one unfold? I have rummaged through the markets and handpicked a couple of tips for you to ponder over.
Manchester City to bear fruit from German adventure
It has been a time of celebration for Germany what with the much-lauded Oktoberfest drawing in a phalanx of tourists, but the party atmosphere could well be in full swing when City roll into town.
Well, Guardiola will want his side to get back to basics after they had a blot on their copybook following their shock loss at Molineux.
There seemed to be a lack of fluidity and invention against Wolves that we have become accustomed to seeing from City, who swept their way to a remarkable Treble last term.
On the European front, City won’t want to relinquish their grip on the Champions League title without a fight, and they haven’t found it hard to find the back of the net against Leipzig.
During their previous four meetings, City have plundered 15 goals, and lost just once. Let’s not forget the walkover in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie where they produced a rampaging performance to deliver a 7-0 win, their biggest in Europe to date.
While Leipzig are undefeated in four home fixtures with English clubs, City are a different beast, and they will be hurting.
Rather than stick my neck on the line and go for the Correct Score section, I have eschewed that for the Match Result & BTTS instead. For my first pick, I have gone with City & BTTS which is trading at a short- looking 11/5 with William Hill.
Erling Haaland to take home the match ball
Erling Haaland always strikes fear into the heart of defences, and he is one of the most menacing forwards across Europe.
With 35 Champions League goals to his name from 31 appearances, he is averaging more than a goal per game, and given his age, Cristiano Ronaldo’s record is in danger of being broken sooner than you may think.
While we may have alluded to some of the chances he has missed this season, Haaland scored five against Leipzig last term, becoming only the third player in Champions League history to achieve that feat after Lionel Messi and Luiz Adriano.
I think Haaland will be at his devastating best, and to round things off, I am backing him to net a hat-trick which is priced at 14/1 with bet365.
:quality(70)/res.cloudinary.com/xlmedia-alpha/image/upload/v1650901211/Salesforce_Logos/Bet365/Bet365_Logo_2022-04-25T15-40-05.png){kind=logo}
Leipzig vs Man City Tips
We are backing the Norwegian beast to score a hat-trick
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/xlmedia/95b7b397-ec07-49be-9275-53f658255162.jpeg)
