Confirmed Team News and Injury Updates – Man City vs RB Leipzig (Champions League)

Pep Guardiola's side have won their previous three fixtures by an aggregate score of 11-0 and consequently, the Sky Blues should feel confident heading into the fixture against the Bundesliga outfit this week.

Wednesday night will see the first-ever meeting between Manchester City and RB Leipzig and Pep Guardiola should be confident of his side’s chances given the form of his team as well as their opponent’s poor form.

Last season’s Bundesliga runners-up have endured a terrible start to the new campaign and have won just one of their opening four Bundesliga fixtures and currently sit 12^th in the German top-flight.

Ahead of Wednesday's clash with RB Leipzig, here is all the team news for both sides.

Manchester City Team News

Pep Guardiola’s side heads into the fixture able to utilise the impressive depth of their mostly fit squad, and consequently, the Catalan coach will be tasked with the headache of selecting 11 players from his squad of stars.

City’s only notable confirmed absentee is back-up goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who remains in the United States following a recent positive test for COVID-19. Owing to quarantine regulations, Steffen will be unable to return to the UK this week and therefore, Scott Carson will feature on the bench.

There was however some late fitness concerns in defence for Pep Guardiola to consider, as both John Stones and Aymeric Laporte were 'not fit enough' to take part in training on Tuesday afternoon - becoming doubtful for the RB Leipzig match, according to Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News.

However, despite missing training, Stones and Laporte's fitness issues were not deemed serious enough to be ruled out entirely for Wednesday night. Elsewhere, and much to the relief of coaches and fas alike, both Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake trained as normal.

Moving into midfield and Jack Grealish appears primed to taste European football for the first time in his career and as the England international has started in each match since he arrived at the club from Aston Villa, it seems likely that he will feature in the starting line-up on Wednesday night.

Additionally, Grealish's international teammate Phil Foden is once again available for selection after recovering from a foot injury which ruled him out of the Sky Blues’ opening fixtures, and the England star may be awarded his first minutes of the season against the German club.

Another player also in contention to return to the side on Wednesday is Kevin De Bruyne, who has missed several matches this season owing to an ankle injury. However, it is unlikely that Pep Guardiola will field the Belgian international from the off.

One selection dilemma that Pep Guardiola will likely face is whether to start either Riyad Mahrez or Raheem Sterling. Neither player has started for Manchester City since the side’s opening day defeat to Tottenham, although owing to the club’s hectic schedule in the coming weeks, Guardiola may be tempted to rotate and start the duo.

RB Leipzig Team News 

Leipzig travel to Manchester looking to bounce back from Saturday’s 4-1 thumping by Bayern Munich, and last season’s Bundesliga runners-up will again be hoping to progress from the group stage.

RB Leipzig head into the game with a mostly fit squad, however Jesse Marsch will be unable to call upon German left-back Marcel Halstenberg owing to a joint capsule tear.

The left-back did not train last week and consequently did not feature in Leipzig’s 4-1 defeat to Bayern. Fellow defender Marcelo Saracchi will also miss the game on Wednesday night as he continues his recovery from a cruciate ligament tear.

However, manager Jesse Marsch has an alternative at left-back available in the form of a face familiar to Manchester City supporters.

Former City defender Angelino will face his former side for the first time in his career on Wednesday night, and the Spaniard will likely be motivated to show his former employers why they were wrong to allow him to leave.

Angelino notably scored in last year’s edition of the tournament to help his side progress through the group stage at the expense of Manchester United, and the Spaniard will be looking to hurt his former club.