RB Leipzig vs Bayer Leverkusen

RB Leipzig and Bayern Leverkusen are set to trade tackles in a mammoth Bundesliga fixture at the Red Bull Arena.

After a 5-0 humbling of Club Brugge in midweek Champions League action, Leipzig will look to get their underwhelming Bundesliga season up and running. Having won just 41.67% of their top-flight fixtures this season (W5, D3, L4), last season’s Bundesliga runners-up sit outside the European spots. However, a return to the Red Bull Arena, where they’ve mustered up 15 (83.33%) of their 18 Bundesliga points this term, must be comforting. Since an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in early September, Jesse Marsch’s men have won their last four top-flight home games by an aggregate score of 15-2. Leipzig’s imperious home form seems likely to continue this weekend as they go up against a Leverkusen side they’ve lost to just once in ten historical Bundesliga H2Hs (W5, D4).

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 home win over Celtic in midweek, cementing their place in the Europa League knock-outs in the process. But despite their eye-catching European exploits, ‘Die Werkself’ have struggled in domestic football of late, with a narrow 1-0 home triumph over newly-promoted Bochum last time out ending their four-match winless league streak (D2, L2). That said, Gerardo Seoane’s men enter this round as the only Bundesliga side yet to lose an away match this season (W3, D3), though it’s worth noting that their last two league travels have ended in scoring draws. Delivering action from the get-go, Leverkusen have got on the scoresheet within 15 minutes of play in a league-high seven of their 12 Bundesliga fixtures this term.