RB Leipzig will be looking to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive when they play host to Hoffenheim at the Red Bull Arena in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
While Die Roten Bullen have won four of their last five games on home soil, Die Kraichgauer are seeking to extend their unbeaten away run to three matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
Following a run of three successive wins in all competitions, Leipzig were made to rue a plethora of missed opportunities as they suffered a 2-0 defeat away against Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.
Die Roten Bullen registered only six of their 26 shots on target throughout the 90 minutes, while goals either side of half time from Adam Hlozek and Nadiem Amiri – the latter converting from the penalty spot after Dominik Szoboszlai was shown a second yellow card for bringing down Jeremie Frimpong inside the area – helping the hosts claim all three points.
Marco Rose's side have subsequently slipped out of the top four and down to fifth place, sitting two points behind Freiburg who have replaced them in fourth spot courtesy of a 4-0 victory over Schalke 04.
Leipzig have now lost five of their last nine matches in all competitions, conceding 15 goals in those defeats, but they can be confident of returning to winning ways at the Red Bull Arena on Saturday as they have won 10 of their 14 Bundesliga home games.
Die Roten Bullen are also unbeaten in their last six home meetings with Hoffenheim, including a 3-1 DFB-Pokal quarter-final win in February and a 3-0 Bundesliga victory in April of last season.
© Reuters
After accumulating 10 points from a possible 12 available, Hoffenheim's four-game unbeaten run was brought to an end last weekend when they lost 3-1 at home to Koln.
Florian Kainz, Davie Selke and Jan Thielmann were all on the scoresheet for the visitors before Kasper Dolberg netted a consolation strike in the 94th minute, and Pellegrino Matarazzo's side were eventually condemned to their 16th league defeat of the season.
Die Kraichgauer, who have spent the last 15 years in the top flight, still have a fight on their hands to avoid relegation as they currently sit 14th in the Bundesliga table and only four points above 16th-placed Stuttgart with five games remaining.
Hoffenheim, who suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Leipzig in the reverse fixture in November, enter Saturday's contest having lost more competitive games against Leipzig (nine) than versus any other team since Die Roten Bullen were promoted to the top flight in 2015-16, while they have won just one of their last eight visits to the Red Bull Arena – a 5-2 Bundesliga victory in April 2018.
Matarazzo, meanwhile, has failed to win any of his five previous meetings with Leipzig as a manager, all of which with former club Stuttgart, but Hoffenheim can take confidence from their last two Bundesliga away outings, including the hard-fought 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich two weeks ago.
Team News
© Reuters
Leipzig will be without long-term absentees Xaver Schlager and Peter Gulacsi, while Szoboszlai and Amadou Haidara are both suspended – the latter ruled out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Leverkusen.
Christopher Nkunku came on as a half-time substitute against Leverkusen and will likely begin on the bench again on Saturday as Rose looks to manage the Frenchman's minutes having only just returned from injury, while Yussuf Poulsen, Emil Forsberg and Mohamed Simakan also returned to the matchday squad last weekend and will be pushing to start.
Timo Werner, who has scored six goals in five competitive home games for Leipzig against Hoffenheim, is expected to continue as the central striker ahead of Andre Silva.
As for Hoffenheim, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Justin Che are both ruled out with groin injuries, while Grischa Promel is doubtful with an ankle problem.
Matarazzo is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, although Dolberg will be pushing to start in attack ahead of either Christoph Baumgartner or Ihlas Bebou after scoring as a substitute last time out.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Blaswich; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Henrichs, Kampl, Laimer, Raum; Forsberg, Olmo; Werner
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Vogt, Brooks, Akpoguma; Kaderabek, Geiger, Becker, Angelino; Kramaric; Bebou, Baumgartner
We say: RB Leipzig 3-1 Hoffenheim
Both sides will be keen to quickly bounce back from setbacks last weekend and put together another good run of form heading down the home straight to ensure that they meet their respective top-flight targets.
Having already beaten Hoffenheim twice this season by an aggregate score of 6-2, Leipzig will be regarded as favourites to come out on top on Saturday and they should have too much for the visitors in the final third.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
