Heidenheim vs. RB Leipzig preview: Can the hosts claim another victory?
| Frank Schmidt | Frank Schmidt |
Heidenheim
Heidenheim will be satisfied with their start to the Bundesliga season, having won three and lost two of their five league matches. Frank Schmidt’s side kicked off the league campaign with back-to-back wins over St. Pauli and Augsburg, before they fell to consecutive defeats against Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg.
After conceding seven goals across those two defeats, Heidenheim would have been pleased to record a clean sheet in last Saturday’s game against Mainz. Marvin Pieringer and Jan Schoppner grabbed a goal apiece to fire their side to a 2-0 away victory. Heidenheim went on to another successful outing in their first-ever match in the main draw of a UEFA competition. They looked set to play out a 1-1 draw in their home game with Olimpija Ljubljana after Adrian Beck saw his opener cancelled out by Álex Blanco. However, Wanner proved to be Heidenheim’s hero, scoring an 83rd-minute winner to clinch all three points.
They will now be looking to clinch a third successive victory by beating Leipzig for the first time since recording a narrow 1-0 win in the second tier in March 2015.
Team News
Mikkel Kaufmann and Mathias Honsak are ruled out through injury, while Niklas Dorsch will serve the first game of a two-match suspension after being sent off last weekend.
RB Leipzig
Leipzig head into matchday six in third position after avoiding defeat in all four of their league matches this season. After beating Bayer Leverkusen, die Roten Bullen went on to play out goalless draws with Union Berlin and St. Pauli. Marco Rose’s side returned to winning ways in last Saturday’s home clash against Augsburg, with Benjamin Šeško netting a brace in a dominant 4-0 victory.
Unfortunately for Leipzig, they were unable to build upon that victory in their midweek Champions League home meeting with Juventus. Die Roten Bullen appeared to be well set to claim all three points after Šeško netted a brace to give his team a 2-1 lead. However, Juventus managed to stage a dramatic turnaround despite being reduced to 10 men following Michele Di Gregorio’s red card. Dušan Vlahović scored his second goal of the game to restore parity, before Francisco Conceição found the net to condemn Leipzig to a second straight defeat in the Champions League.
Leipzig will be keen to bounce back from that disappointment in their final game before the international break. The visitors may be able to take confidence from the fact they have won each of their last three meetings with Heidenheim, including a 2-1 victory in last season’s away victory.
Team News
The visitors are unable to call upon the injured trio of Kevin Kampl, Assan Ouédraogo and Xaver Schlager.