City to get their European campaign motoring
Wednesday evening will see last season's UEFA Champions League beaten finalists Manchester City attempt to get their campaign to go one better up and running at home against Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola's men came through a tricky fixture at the weekend with a vital 1-0 win over Leicester City, whilst their midweek opponents were on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline against Bayern Munich. New Die Roten Bullen boss Jesse Marsch has struggled in his opening fixtures to find the right formula, and will find no comfort awaits him in England, either. Read our preview here:
Copper, gold, Zinc
With the ongoing suspension by the club of left-back Benjamin Mendy, who remains remanded in police custody, the options in that role are once again limited, and will doubtlessly be the primary focus of the winter transfer window, should the right player become available. João Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko will be rotated carefully and strategically to lower the risk of fatigue and long-term injury, and it's the latter who will take his place in the XI on Wednesday. The Ukrainian has yet to start in the league for City, but that will doubtlessly change very soon; against Leipzig, he'll be tasked with bypassing the attacking midfield trio with his passing and surges forward, hobbling a key area for his adversaries in the process. Whilst much attention has been given to the lack of striker purchased in the summer, the reality is the rotation of personnel in a false nine role has served them extremely well, and ought to continue in much the same vein when faced with a shaky backline.
Silva's only second place
The 4-0 thrashing of Stuttgart has been the sole highlight of the nascent season to date, sandwiched as it was between surprising losses to both Mainz and Wolfsburg. They're already playing catch-up in a division ever more skewed by Bayern's black hole-esque pull, and will be hoping that European competition can provide a way to kickstart 2021/2022. Marcelo Saracchi and Marcel Halstenberg remain on the sidelines, but Marsch could welcome back the triumvirate of Tyler Adams, Amadou Haidara, and most notably Emil Forsberg to the squad. Portguese forward André Silva will retain his place up top despite a slow start to life in Germany, netting just once in five appearances. His aerial prowess will be an important factor in gleaning something out of the encounter from set pieces.
Forced Marsch
Rewind several months, and the contest might've been more even on paper. RB lost head coach Julian Nagelsmann and central defensive powerhouse Dayot Upamecano to Bayern however, and it is been a cruel baptism of fire for Marsch and his charges ever since. Casumo have odds of 2.80 for a City win, with both teams scoring.
