It has been far from home sweet home for RB Leipzig since the Bundesliga resumed last month; the team is enduring the club’s longest winless streak at home in the league in its 11-year history after drawing five consecutive matches. In the penultimate game of the season, Leipzig will look to secure a place in next season’s Champions League with a win against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
The home advantage appears to be no more for Die Roten Bullen as the team has now drawn more games at the Red Bull Arena in the past four weeks than in six of the club’s previous ten seasons. Recent defensive lapses have resulted in 12 points dropped from a possible 16 on home turf and Julian Nagelsmann will be adamant on avoiding further problems against one of Europe’s most prolific centre-forward, Erling Håland, and a team that Péter Gulácsi hasn’t kept a clean sheet against in the past six meetings.
Borussia Dortmund will be feeling the pressure of Leipzig breathing down their necks coming into matchday 37 following a surprise defeat to Mainz 05 at the Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday. With Champions League already secured, Lucian Favre’s side will be aiming to end the season on a positive note, starting by making amends for dropping a two-goal in the reverse fixture in December.
Despite Die Roten Bullen’s stuttering form, the team are unbeaten in the past 14 matches in all competitions and have lost just once in the Bundesliga on home soil all season. Favre is yet to defeat Nagelsmann in their three meetings (all draws) and will have a stern test ahead as the home team strive to exceed the club’s record top-flight points tally of 67 with back-to-back wins against Dortmund and Augsburg.
Match Information
Date: Saturday, June 20, 2020
Kick-off: 15:30 (CET) | 09:30 (ET)
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Referee: Felix Zwayer
Broadcasting: BT Sport 3 (United Kingdom), Sky Sport Bundesliga (Germany)
Head-to-Head
14.10.17: Borussia Dortmund 2-3 RB Leipzig
03.03.18: RB Leipzig 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
26.08.18: Borussia Dortmund 4-1 RB Leipzig
19.01.19: RB Leipzig 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
17.12.19: Borussia Dortmund 3-3 RB Leipzig
Current Form
RB Leipzig
Hertha Berlin 2-2 (H) | Cologne 2-4 (A) | Paderborn 07 1-1 (H) | Hoffenheim 0-2 (A) | Fortuna Düsseldorf 2-2 (H)
Borussia Dortmund
Bayern Munich 0-1 (H) | Paderborn 07 1-6 (A) | Hertha Berlin 1-0 (H) | Fortuna Düsseldorf 1-0 (H) | Mainz 05 2-0 (A)
Team News
RB Leipzig
Injured: Yussuf Poulsen (ligament), Hannes Wolf (ankle)
Absent: Konrad Laimer (illness)
Borussia Dortmund
Injured: Dan-Axel Zagadou (knee), Mahmoud Dahoud (knee), Thomas Delaney (muscle)
Absent: Marco Reus (fitness), Mario Götze (personal), Manuel Akanji (muscle)
Suspended: Achraf Hakimi
Predicted Line-ups
RB Leipzig
Gulácsi – Mukiele, Klostermann, Upamecano, Halstenberg – Sabitzer, Adams, Nkunku – Olmo – Schick, Werner. (4-3-1-2)
Borussia Dortmund
Bürki – Piszczek, Hummels, Can – Morey, Brandt, Witsel, Guerreiro – Sancho, Håland, Hazard. (3-4-3)
Press Conference
“We have two match points. We have to take one of them to achieve our goal and crown a good season. We will work hard against Dortmund to put in the best performance we can.”
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“It’s obviously a shame that Timo is leaving. He was and is a very important player for RBL. I have no doubt that he will give everything in the final two games.”
Julian Nagelsmann on finishing the season on a high and Timo Werner’s last two matches at RB Leipzig.
“It’s our last goal. We’re now in second place and want to stay there this season. But for that, we need a completely different performance against Leipzig than against Mainz.”
Lucien Favre on wanting to secure second place with a better than against Mainz 05.
Score Prediction
RB Leipzig 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
