Introduction
Moving into Matchday 15, we have plenty of fixtures at our disposal in the Bundesliga, with the most high profile one being the encounter between RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund. The current runners up would be facing off last years’ runners up, with both sides possessing an abundance of attacking talents.
Team News
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund have had quite an underwhelming season to be honest. In particular, Jadon Sancho has considerably underperformed this season, with just 1 goal and 4 assists in 12 outings. Their veteran forward, Marco Reus has also not been at his best this season.
To make matters worse, one of their chief creators last season, Thorgan Hazard has been injured quite a lot this season and hence, won’t be able to play this game. Along with the Belgian, Marcel Schmelzer and Jude Bellingham will not be able to represent Dortmund on Saturday as well.
Their teenage striker, Moukoko is also doubtful for this game. This is the predicted lineup for Borussia Dortmund:-
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig have had a pretty solid season so far. The loss of their talisman, Timo Werner to Chelsea has not affected their morale by any means, and they have been giving table toppers, Bayern Munich a good run for their money. With just 9 goals conceded, they have the best defensive record in the league currently.
However, it is fair to say that Timo Werner’s departure has somewhat reduced their attacking threat. Last season, they had a goals per game ratio of 2.47 compared to 1.78 this season.
Talking about injuries, RB Leipzig will miss the services of Dominik Szoboszlai, Konrad Laimer and Benjamin Henrichs. Meanwhile, the likes of Lukas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg, Nordi Mukiele, Christopher Nkunku, Ibrahima Konate and Justin Kluivert are doubtful for this clash.
The predicted lineup for RB Leipzig is given below:-
Players to watch out for
Angelino
With 4 goals this season, the wing back is currently the top scorer for RB Leipzig. Furthermore, he is arguably Leipzig’s best player this season with 2 assists and 2.2 key passes per game.
Yussuf Poulsen
Alongside Angelino, Poulsen is RB Leipzig ‘s top scorer with 4 goals as well. Moreover, he has 2 assists to his name as well. Alongside Angelino on the left, he may be a menace to handle with for the Borussia Dortmund defence.
Erling Haaland
While the Borussia Dortmund attack might be misfiring at the moment, Haaland has not been showing any signs of slowing down. With 10 goals in just 9 matches, the RB Leipzig defence have to be really careful and cannot afford to allow him any space in and around the box.
Giovanni Reyna
While the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus have not been at their best this season so far, the 18 year old youngster Reyna has been a revelation for Terzic’s side. With 4 goals and 3 assists to his name so far, his creative influence could spell danger for RB Leipzig .
Conclusion
While Borussia Dortmund come into this match as underdogs, it would be foolish to undermine their potential. All in all, this clash promises to be an exciting battle of two modern heavyweights of German football.
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