Bet of the Day: RB Leipzig v Manchester City: Back Haaland to net in German goalfest

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Wednesday 3 November, 20:00
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Leipzig looking for consistency

It's been a strange start to the season for RB Leipzig. The club made a huge call in the summer to ditch coach Ole Werner, the man who had got RB back into the Champions League with a top-three finish. Even more controversially, they hired Martin Demichelis as his replacement, a coach who was fresh from taking Mallorca out of La Liga thanks to a crushing relegation.

To give Demichelis credit, he has won every home game he has taken charge of so far across the Bundesliga and the Champions League. However, some of the performances away from home have been abysmal. 4-1 defeats at Real Madrid and Como have damaged the Champions League effort, and in the league there was a 3-1 surrender at Werder Bremen and a 6-1 demolition at the hands of Bayern Munich.

It is however worth noting that these are early days in the reign of the former Bayern Munich and Manchester City defender, and he is at least getting a tune out of Norwegian winger Antonio Nusa. The 21-year-old knew he needed to turn potential into performances this season, and he has already delivered four goals and six assists in just eight Bundesliga outings. With star winger Yan Diomande having been sold to Real Madrid, Nusa has stepped up.

Brazilian striker Romulo has scored three goals in his last three games, as has Christoph Baumgartner, whose return from injury has been very welcome. There's also been an improvement from 20-year-old French forward Tidiam Gomis, who has scored four goals this season, including a strike at the Bernabeu.

Christopher Nkunku, who has a hat-trick to his name this season, is pushing for a recall, but Assan Ouedraogo and Marc Guiu are out injured. Centre-back Maxime Esteve hopes to recover from a knock.

Maresca facing first slump as City boss

Regardless of the external noise and controversy at Manchester City, Enzo Maresca had made an excellent start to life as manager, winning his first seven Premier League matches in charge. However, back-to-back league defeats against Aston Villa and Brighton have seen the Italian hit a bump in the road.

City created chances in both defeats but fell short, and there have been individual errors in both games, with the spotlight turned on Marc Guehi, Matheus Nunes and goalkeeper Gigio Donnarumma. It's not just the Premier League where City have suffered a setback, as they were mauled by European champions PSG in a 4-2 home defeat in the Champions League.

At least City can rely on the excellence of Erling Haaland. One of Haaland's greatest ever individual displays came against RB Leipzig, as he scored five goals in a 7-0 win for City. He has 12 goals in eight career appearances against Die Roten Bullen, and overall this season he has 13 goals in 12 competitive club matches this term.

City will be without winger Antoine Semenyo for the trip to Saxony. The Ghana star will be out for the next few weeks with a knee injury.

RB Leipzig v Manchester City Tip 1 - Goals expected in eastern Germany

Normally I wouldn't be tempted by backing Over 3.5 Goals at below evens, but at 1.9620/21 on the Exchange it seems a fair price here. That bet has paid out in eight of Leipzig's 13 competitive games this season, and by nature Leipzig are a front-foot team that wants to take the game to the opposition. If you look at City's games, seven of 15 in all competitions have featured four goals or more.

RB Leipzig v Manchester City Tip 2 - Stars to sparkle on both sides

Given Erling Haaland's incredible record against Leipzig and his excellent start to the club season, I'm more than happy to back him to find the net here. The Norwegian's career record in the Champions League is staggering, with 61 goals in 60 games in European football's premier competition. This season alone he has scored braces against both Porto and PSG.

I'll also back Antonio Nusa to have two shots, something he has done in ten of his 12 starts this term. I'll also back him to be fouled, which has happened in eight of his 12 starts.

That treble on the Bet Builder pays out at 7/52.40.

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