Man City v RB Leipzig – Betting Preview
Seeking to right the wrongs of their exploits at the Red Bull Arena, Manchester City host RB Leipzig in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday evening.
Three weeks ago, Die Roten Bullen were able to hold the Premier League champions to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, but facing the Citizens at home may present entirely new challenges.
Man City Preview
The English champions took the lead on Riyad Mahrez’s goal at the 27-minute mark, but Leipzig came out of the locker room a different animal and rightly tied the score on Gvardiol’s header with 20 minutes left, leaving the tie in a precarious position going into Tuesday’s rematch.
Pep Guardiola’s team has gone on a four-game winning streak that draw at the Red Bull Arena, but only an Erling Braut Haaland penalty could bring down a tenacious Crystal Palace in a 1-0 Selhurst Park victory on Saturday night. The team is still vying for success on three fronts this season.
Man City are attempting to avoid their first last-16 elimination since losing to Monaco in the 2016–17 season. They also have a chance to make Champions League history this week if they win, as they may tie Arsenal’s record of 14 years for the longest home unbeaten streak in the competition.
In fact, the Citizens have won 21 of their 23 home games in Europe’s top competition, and they boast an impressive unbeaten streak of six games at the Etihad across all competitions since their New Year’s Eve tie with Everton.
RB Leipzig Preview
Marco Rose must learn from his midweek opponent Pep Guardiola, who was the last manager to bring a German club to victory in the Champions League at the Etihad with Bayern Munich in 2013–14. If he wants to hand Man City their first home loss of 2023, Rose must emulate Guardiola’s tactics.
Since then, nine attempts by Bundesliga heavyweights to defeat Man City at home have failed, but Leipzig’s five-game unbeaten streak in the Champions League could help them as they strive to further the misery of their sky blue teammates.
In the perfect way to prepare for this match, Rose’s team defeated Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 in a Bundesliga match on Saturday. Following goals from Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg, Gvardiol once more showed his prowess in the opponent’s penalty area.
1×2 Betting Odds
Let’s begin analysing the 1×2 market
Even without Nkunku, who was unable to match his incredible treble from 18 months ago, we can see that defences will not typically prevail when Man City and Leipzig square off.
The Citizens should win by a slim margin to maintain their Champions League hopes, but home field advantage and injuries to crucial Leipzig players will undoubtedly go in their favour.
While patience may be the name of the game, as it was at Selhurst Park, Guardiola’s team should prevail!
And the betting market agrees!
Man City are the heavy favourites in this @ 1.42.
Leipzig is not given much of a chance with odds standing @ 9.00.
The market odds of a stalemate and that this one goes to extra time, stands @ 5.40.
Total goals over/under
Let’s check the over/under scenario
The odds that the total number of goals scored will be over 2.5, stands @ 1.67.
While the odds that the total number of goals will be under 2.5, stands @ 2.46.
Manchester City has been a goalscoring juggernaut on their home field in the Champions League, and one of the teams that experienced that proverbial storm was Leipzig who lost at Etihad Stadium two years ago by the score of 6-3.
Domestically, Man City shares the top spot with Arsenal in the Premier League with the most over 3.5 goals matches, they both had 12 of them. Leipzig had eight games of more than three goals scored this season in the Bundesliga.
