Another great weekend of football is upon us as we look forward to witnessing some more mouth-watering fixtures after two great nights of Champions League football. Two German heavyweights, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund will be up against each other this Saturday night in the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig. For one team, this game is important to stay in touch with the table-toppers, while for the other team, it’s a chance to get their season on track.
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Why Should You be Watching?
It’s always a joy to watch two big names of the game clashing with each other. This game is undoubtedly one of the most important games of the season for both teams. With both teams having a strange run of form recently and netting quite a lot of goals, it’s hard to predict anything about this game, making it a joy to watch for even the neutrals. The DieRottenBullen fans would be expecting a rather better performance from their team than they gave against PSG
Build Up
Both of the teams enter this game on the back of some decent domestic performance. The team from Leipzig have been in fine form in all competitions recently, having lost just one of their last 5 games, which was away to PSG. However, they did salvage a point in the return fixture earlier this week, which would definitely add to their confidence.
Dortmund on the other hand has been in better form domestically, having won all 5 out of their last 5 games. But it has been a different story for them in the Champions League. They’ll be going into this game on the back of a 3-1 home defeat to Ajax. Star player Erling Haaland will be out of action for some more uncertain period of time, he’ll be one of the regulars missing this important clash. The team has still done fairly well domestically and would be looking forward to continuing their good domestic form
RB Leipzig form: LWWDD
Borussia Dortmund form: LWWWL
Head to Head
When it comes to H2H, Dortmund holds the upper hand. These two teams have faced off just 11 times till now and the Black and Yellows have come out as victorious on 7 of those occasions. Their latest encounter was in the DFB Cup Final which Dortmund won comfortably by a 4-1 margin. Despite this, this Leipzig side is slightly different. Having a new coach at the helm and some new talents in the team, this Leipzig team will poise a different challenge.
Predicted Lineups
RB Leipzig
Formation : 3-4-2-1
GK: P. Gulacsi
Defense: Gvaridol, Simakan, Mukiele
Midfield: Tyler Adams, Kampl, Laimer, Angelino
Attack : Nkunku, Szoboszlai
ST: Poulsen
Borussia Dortmund
Formation : 4-3-3
GK: Kobel
Defense: Meunier, Hummels, Akanji, Passlack
Midfield: Brandt, Witsel, Bellingham
Attack: Malen, Hazard, Reus
Players to Watch Out For
Christopher Nkunku
He is the man of the moment for Leipzig. He’s delivering top-quality performances game after game for his team in all competitions. He has already netted 5 times in the UCL and 4 times in the Bundesliga. Of course, he scored midweek against PSG. He possesses a great skill set and pace and he’s in red hot form. He’ll be the main dangerman for Dortmund’s defense and will be definitely causing a problem or two for them, as he has been doing to other teams.
Thorgan Hazard
Not the ideal Haaland replacement, but the Belgian wizard has found the net 3 times in BVB’s last 2 domestic outings. He’ll have the responsibility of the goalscoring job once again and could prove out to be a pivotal part of the game. He’s gonna get more playing time in the absence of Haaland and till now he’s been delivering the goods.
Conclusion
A tricky match is what we expect to see this Saturday. This one should be an entertaining watch for both the supporters and the neutrals. With attacking talent aplenty on both sides, it’ll pretty much come down to who defends better throughout the game. It’s next to impossible to pick out a clear winner in this one before the game, considering the prowess these teams possess. We might well see this ending in a draw but one thing we can be assured of is that the game will be worth the time.
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