Manchester City vs. RB Leipzig 9/15/21 UEFA Champions League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Manchester City is hosting RB Leipzig at Etihad Stadium in round 1 of Group A of the UEFA Champions League. City is on a 3-game winning streak during which they haven’t conceded a single goal, and they are looking well. Leipzig is still very inconsistent, and I think coaching change is imminent in Leipzig.

During their 3-game winning streak, City has scored 11 goals, and they have beaten Arsenal and Leicester in their last 2 EPL games. In their last game against Leicester, City has had 60% of ball possession, 8 shots on goal, 8 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and a high 90% of the correct passes. Despite all the chances, City has scored only 1 goal, and it was a late one. Fortunately for City, their defense was solid in this game, and they have won this game 0-1. Last season, Manchester City has reached the Champions League finals, and they were good in that game, but one mistake has cost them the title. At the moment, City lacks a proper striker, and I hope they get one in the winter transfer window because they will need one if they want to go all the way this season.

Leipzig is struggling a lot so far this season, on both ends, and they have lost 3 of their last 4 games, including the one against Bayern this past weekend. Leipzig has had 53% of ball possession, 4 shots on goal, 2 corner kicks, 0 big chances created, and 81% of the correct passes. Nothing was working for Leipzig in this game, defensively or offensively, and they ended up losing this game 1-4. Once again, Leipzig was drawn into a strong group in the Champions League, and not even with a ton of luck, I don’t think they will end up in one of the top two spots. Leipzig is a good team, they still have some great players and a lot of talent on both ends, but I don’t think coach Jesse Marsch is the man for the head coaching job for this team. As much as I would love for Leipzig to win Bundesliga or to advance past the group stage in the Champions League, I don’t think they have the quality or the depth to do it, at least not this season. The Europa League is the competition for Leipzig this season.

This is the first matchup between these two teams, and I think City will dominate the possession as they always do, and with that, they will create a ton of chances. Leipzig might catch a break on counterattacks, but I don’t think they will have a lot of those, and for that reason, I’m taking City to win to nil.