Enzo Maresca has named a 23-man Manchester City squad for Wednesday night’s Champions League trip to RB Leipzig, and Antoine Semenyo is the only senior player missing.
City trained on Tuesday morning before flying to Germany for a game that kicks off at 8pm (UK) at the Red Bull Arena. After back-to-back Premier League defeats, which have left them three points behind leaders Arsenal, it is close to the strongest group Maresca could have hoped to take.
The bigger worry is not who is missing, but who scores the goals while Semenyo is out.
Man City team news vs RB Leipzig
The squad confirmed by the club on Tuesday afternoon, in squad number order, is: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rúben Dias, Elliot Anderson, Marc Guéhi, Iliman Ndiaye, Mateo Kovačić, Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Jérémy Doku, Marcus Bettinelli, Enzo Fernández, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Joško Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes, Gerónimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Nico O’Reilly, Allan Elias, Abdukodir Khusanov, Phil Foden, Floyd Samba, Rico Lewis.
That is three goalkeepers and 20 outfield players. Floyd Samba trained with the senior group at the CFA on Tuesday and made the trip, as did Allan Elias. Ryan McAidoo and Kaden Braithwaite were not in the training group.
When will Antoine Semenyo be back?
Antoine Semenyo picked up a knee injury last month and faces a spell on the sidelines. The 26-year-old is not expected back until December, so Christmas is the realistic target.
That hurts more than a normal absence. City have no recognised back-up striker, and Semenyo was the next best option behind Erling Haaland, who already has 13 goals in all competitions this season.
Can City cope without a second striker?
Maresca addressed it head-on at his press conference in Germany on Tuesday evening. He said: “We cannot rely on Erling in every game; we need the rest to score goals but the last game against Brighton was the only game of the season where we didn’t score.”
The 1-0 home defeat to Brighton was a game in which City created more than enough to score at least once, but none of the big chances fell to Haaland, a week after a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa. We went through the full message Maresca gave his attackers after the press conference, and the squad list explains why it matters. Foden, Cherki, Doku and Ndiaye are the ones who have to share the load.
Maresca also made a point about the size of his group. He said: “We have many games in all competitions and 20 senior players, all of them very good. It’s good to have competition between them.”
Rotation with a long season in mind
He was just as clear that this is about the whole campaign, not one night in Leipzig. “It’s not a sprint, it’s like a marathon, we need to think about 65 games,” he said, adding that it is “very important to arrive in February, March and April, when things are going to be more exciting, to have all of them fit.”
With Nottingham Forest to come at the weekend and an international break just around the corner, that is a hint that a near fully fit squad will not mean the same eleven every time.
What is at stake in Leipzig?
City sit 10th in the 36-team league phase table with six points from three games: a 2-0 win at FC Porto, a 4-2 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and a 5-1 win over AEK Athens. That leaves them just outside the top eight, which brings a direct place in the last 16.
RB Leipzig are 29th after beating PSV Eindhoven 1-0 at home and losing 4-1 away at both Como and Real Madrid. At home they have been a different side: five wins out of five in all competitions this season, with 19 goals scored and none conceded.
Martin Demichelis is without Assan Ouédraogo (shoulder) and Marc Guiu (muscle), while Maxime Estève is a doubt with a knock. Marco Guida is the referee, with Daniele Chiffi on VAR. Our Man City predicted lineup vs RB Leipzig has how we expect Maresca to set up with this group, and our RB Leipzig vs Man City preview looks at that home record in more detail.
Verdict: a full squad, one big gap
On paper, this is about as good as team news gets for Maresca. Twenty-three players on the plane, one senior absentee, and options in every line.
The gap is up front. Until Semenyo is back, Haaland is the only natural striker, and Leipzig have not conceded at home all season. If City are going to end their run of two straight league defeats with a win in Germany, it probably needs one of Foden, Cherki or Doku to finish what Haaland can’t.
