Manchester City vs Bayer Leverkusen: Can Kasper Hjulmand’s side cause an upset? | OneFootball

Kasper Hjulmand’s Bayer Leverkusen travel to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League.

Last time out in this competition, City swatted aside Borussia Dortmund with ease at the same venue. Guardiola’s men, however, were on the receiving end of a 2–1 defeat to Newcastle United at the weekend. Whether that result is an advantage for Leverkusen is unclear; City have a well-known knack for bouncing back immediately from disappointing performances.

Leverkusen head to Manchester on the back of three consecutive wins, and they will arrive with confidence. Even so, they will need to be at their absolute best to take anything back to Germany.

With 10 goals scored across those three matches, Die Werkself have demonstrated a clinical edge in front of goal, spearheaded by Czech international Patrick Schick. Their attacking form gives them reason for optimism but turning that sharpness into success against a side of City’s quality will be a stern test.

The last two times Leverkusen have faced opponents of a similar calibre to City, they have suffered defeats – first to PSG and, more recently, to Bayern Munich. The match against the Parisiens will be remembered for the visitors scoring with almost every meaningful attack.

Leverkusen will be without several players for the trip to Manchester. Robert Andrich will serve the second match of his two-game suspension after being sent off against PSG, while Edmond Tapsoba is also unavailable due to accumulated bookings. Ezequiel Fernández and Exequiel Palacios remain sidelined with injuries.

Manchester City vs Bayer Leverkusen Predicted XI’s

Manchester City: Donnarumma – Lewis, Stones, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri – Gonzalez, Reijnders – Savinho, Foden, Doku – Haaland

Bayer Leverkusen: Flekken – Belocian, Bade, Quansah – Tella, Maza, Garcia, Grimaldo – Tillman, Poku – Schick

GGFN | Harry Good