RB Leipzig vs Man City preview: Demichelis faces "brother" Maresca

RB Leipzig host Manchester City at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday, 4 November (20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET) in round 4 of the Champions League league phase. It is a meeting of two old friends on the touchline: Leipzig coach Martín Demichelis, who played for City from 2013 to 2016, faces Enzo Maresca, who took over from Pep Guardiola at the Etihad this season. Both teams arrive after uneven starts in Europe – and City after a home defeat in the Premier League.

Where the two sides stand

After three matches, City have six points and sit 10th in the 36-team table; Leipzig have three points and are 29th. A win would lift City towards the top-eight places that lead straight to the last 16, while Leipzig need points to stay in the race for the play-off places (9th to 24th).

	RB Leipzig	Manchester City
Champions League (after 3)	3 pts, 29th	6 pts, 10th
League	Bundesliga: 4th, 15 pts after 8	Premier League: 2nd, 21 pts after 9
Last match	Schalke 0-2 Leipzig (Nusa pen. 37', Rômulo 78')	Man City 0-1 Brighton (Ayari 11')
Coach	Martín Demichelis	Enzo Maresca

Leipzig's European campaign has swung between extremes: 4-1 defeats at Como and Real Madrid, with a 1-0 home win over PSV in between. City beat Porto 2-0 away and AEK Athens 5-1 at home, but lost 4-2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain. In the Bundesliga table, Leipzig are fourth, three points behind Bayern and Dortmund. City are three points behind Arsenal in the Premier League table after Saturday's 1-0 home loss to Brighton, in which they had 21 shots without scoring.

Team news

Leipzig are without Assan Ouédraogo (shoulder) and Marc Guiu (muscle), and centre-back Maxime Estève is a doubt with a knock. Demichelis confirmed at his pre-match press conference that Christoph Baumgartner will make his first start of the season after a long injury lay-off; the Austrian set up a goal off the bench in Madrid. Beyond that, the coach kept his line-up to himself – even, he said, when Maresca asked him for it. "My friend Enzo Maresca already wanted to know the line-up from me, but I can't reveal more than Baumi," Demichelis told reporters, according to dpa.

City's only absentee is Antoine Semenyo, who is out with a knee injury until around mid-December. Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki are expected to return to the starting XI behind Erling Haaland.

Possible line-ups (according to Sports Mole):

• Leipzig: Vandevoordt – Baku, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum – Banzuzi, El Aynaoui, Baumgartner – Gruda, Rômulo, Nusa
• Man City: Donnarumma – Nunes, Dias, Guéhi, O'Reilly – Anderson, Fernández – Foden, Cherki, Doku – Haaland

Haaland and the history

Leipzig have beaten City only once in six meetings – 2-1 at home in the 2021/22 group stage. City won both games in 2023/24, including a 3-2 comeback at the Etihad from 2-0 down at half-time, and Haaland has 12 goals in eight games against the Saxons, five of them in the 7-0 last-16 win in March 2023. "There is no recipe against Haaland. He is an exceptional striker," Demichelis said. Demichelis called Maresca, his former team-mate and neighbour at Málaga, "almost like a brother".

Our take

City are the favourites on quality, but this is not the City of old: they have conceded 12 goals in their last six matches and were blunt against Brighton. Leipzig's strength is on the flanks – Antonio Nusa and David Raum create plenty – and Baumgartner adds the late runs that Demichelis's side lacked in Madrid. If Leipzig can survive the opening phase without conceding, they have the pace to hurt a City defence that has looked uncertain. Points for Leipzig would change their Champions League outlook; another slip for City would raise first questions about Maresca's start.

Follow RB Leipzig vs Manchester City live on EZCO, with the Champions League table updated in real time.