Manchester City resume their European campaign this Wednesday, with the English giants facing RB Leipzig for the 1st leg of their UEFA Champions League encounter.
The defending Premier League champions will visit the Red Bull Arena for this tie as Guardiola's men look to bounce back from their recent disappointment, having drawn 1-1 at Nottingham Forest over the weekend to surrender the top-flight lead back to rivals Arsenal.
Despite the need to return to winning ways, the Cityzens have left out two star players from the trip to Leipzig, thus raising several eyebrows along the way. Those men are none other than Kevin de Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte.
The pair both started in the weekend stalemate at Nottingham Forest but missed out on Tuesday's training session. It remains unclear whether this is down to injury or something more worrying. Nonetheless, both men appeared fine after the 1-1 draw, meaning that this could be a precautionary measure in the case of a fitness concern.
Additionally, John Stones is unavailable, meaning Pep will be without three of his most influential players of the past few seasons. The English center-back remains sidelined due to a thigh injury, thus leaving the Spaniard with Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Rico Lewis, and Kyle Walker in defense.
De Bruyne
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 21, 2023
Stones
Laporte
#MCFC will take a 22-man squad to Germany for tomorrow's clash with Leipzig pic.twitter.com/aTLRpDIXHu
While Manchester City are seen as one of the favorites for the title, the English giants must not underestimate the Bundesliga outfit. These two clubs faced off in the group stage last season, with RB Leipzig scoring five goals across the two encounters.
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