Christoph Baumgartner will make his first start of the season against Man City, and that one confirmed name shapes the rest of the RB Leipzig side we expect at the Red Bull Arena.
RB Leipzig host Manchester City on Wednesday 4 November, with kick-off at 8pm UK time, in matchday four of the Champions League league phase. Italian referee Marco Guida is in charge, with Daniele Chiffi on VAR.
The Germans come in on three straight wins, the latest a 2-0 victory at Schalke on Saturday, but Europe has been a different story. They have three points from three games, lost 4-1 at Como and 4-1 at Real Madrid, and sit 29th in the table. Martín Demichelis, who played for City between 2013 and 2016, needs a result against his old club.
RB Leipzig predicted lineup vs Man City
RB Leipzig predicted lineup vs Man City (4-3-3): Vandevoordt; Baku, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum; Banzuzi, El Aynaoui, Baumgartner; Gruda, Rômulo, Nusa
Who is missing for Leipzig?
Assan Ouédraogo is out with a shoulder injury and Marc Guiu with a muscle problem that is expected to keep him out for several weeks.
Maxime Esteve is the main doubt. He has a knock and was held back as a precaution for the DFB-Pokal win at Rot-Weiss Essen, where Leipzig won 2-1 despite playing most of the second half with ten men. The former Burnley defender has been talking up a reunion with Erling Haaland, but we would not risk him from the start.
In goal and at the back
Maarten Vandevoordt: the number one
Vandevoordt is in goal in every XI we compared, and there is no case for changing him. Leipzig’s only win in this season’s league phase was a 1-0 at home to PSV Eindhoven, and they will need that kind of tight night again.
Ridle Baku and David Raum: the full-backs
Baku on the right and Raum on the left both appear in every XI we compared. Leipzig will want them high up the pitch, but against City’s wide players they could spend much of the night defending.
Willi Orbán and Castello Lukeba: the centre-back pair
With Esteve doubtful, Orbán partners Lukeba in the middle. They have the job nobody envies: Haaland scored five times against Leipzig in City’s 7-0 win in March 2023, and Demichelis admitted on Tuesday, “There is no recipe against Haaland. He is an exceptional striker.”
Midfield: Baumgartner’s night
Christoph Baumgartner: confirmed by his coach
Demichelis gave away only one name at his press conference. “My friend Enzo Maresca already wanted to know the line-up from me, but I can’t reveal more than Baumi,” he said.
It will be the Austrian’s first start of the season after a long injury break. He came off the bench in Madrid and set up a goal almost straight away, and he believes Leipzig can “hold our own against City” if they play with bravery and tidiness.
Neil El Aynaoui and Ezechiel Banzuzi: the legs around him
El Aynaoui sits deepest, with Banzuzi doing the running alongside him. Baumgartner’s return most likely costs Rocco Reitz a place, and Nicolas Seiwald is the other option if Demichelis wants a more cautious two-man base.
Can Leipzig hurt City out wide?
Brajan Gruda and Antonio Nusa: the wingers
Baumgartner said Leipzig have “high individual quality, especially down the wings”, and these two are what he meant. Gruda and Nusa are in every XI we compared, and Nusa in particular is the player City’s right-back will worry about most.
Rômulo: leading the line
With Guiu injured, Rômulo is the centre-forward. Every lineup we looked at has him starting, and his movement will decide whether Leipzig can keep the ball long enough to “perform as a team, organized and aggressive”, as Demichelis put it.
What about Christopher Nkunku?
Nkunku is Leipzig’s top scorer in the Bundesliga this season with four goals, but he has only just come back from a brief groin problem and spent the whole of the Schalke win on the bench. Some XIs have him starting behind Rômulo, but we think Demichelis keeps him for the last half-hour, when City’s legs start to go.
For how Maresca might set City up, see our Man City predicted lineup vs RB Leipzig, and for why this game matters so much to the man in the home dugout, read Demichelis’ warning that he will walk away if Leipzig miss their targets.
Our verdict on the Leipzig XI
Baumgartner is the one selection Demichelis has confirmed, and the rest picks itself around the injuries to Ouédraogo and Guiu and the doubt over Esteve. If Leipzig are going to give City a problem, it will come from Gruda and Nusa running at the full-backs, with Nkunku ready to come on.
RB Leipzig lineup vs Man City (4-3-3): Vandevoordt; Baku, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum; Banzuzi, El Aynaoui, Baumgartner; Gruda, Rômulo, Nusa
