RB Leipzig vs. SC Freiburg preview: Schuster's team chase first-ever win at Red Bull Arena

RB Leipzig

After losing their final two games of 2025, RB Leipzig will look to get back to winning ways in their first Bundesliga outing of the year when they host SC Freiburg at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night.

Ole Werner's side were originally due to kick off 2026 at the weekend, but their away fixture against St. Pauli was called off and postponed until January 27 due to adverse weather conditions.

The Leipzig coach is now looking forward to finally getting back in action.

“We'd prepared ourselves for St. Pauli, but then had to change our plans at short notice. But we were able to replicate the intensity of a game in our sessions, so that in the end, we were able to prepare the way we always would for the game against SC Freiburg,” said Ole Werner at a press conference on Tuesday.

“We had a bit more time to prepare than we thought we would, after the game against St. Pauli was postponed. However, that didn't have any major impact on the content of our sessions, and the team were very focused. We're now looking forward to tomorrow night and to getting back underway. We're well prepared and ready for the restart,” he added.  

Stuttgart's 3-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday saw Leipzig slip to fourth in the Bundesliga, but victory on Wednesday would see Ole Werner's men reclaim third place.

Team News

Yan Diomande is back and available after being eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations with Côte d'Ivoire.

Johan Bakayoko (calf), Lukas Klostermann (illness), Benjamin Henrichs (fitness after achilles tendon rupture) and Viggo Gebel (ACL) are all unavailable.

SC Freiburg

In contrast to RB Leipzig, Freiburg were able to kick off 2026 at the weekend, doing so with a hard-fought 2-1 comeback win over Hamburger SV at home.

Luka Vušković sent HSV ahead, but the hosts turned the game around after Daniel Elfadli was sent off for conceding a penalty, which Vincenzo Grifo converted, before substitute Igor Matanović scored a late winner.

That victory saw the Breisgau outfit extend their winning run in all competitions to four games, and they will now be hoping to claim their first-ever win at the Red Bull Arena.

Freiburg have drawn three and lost seven of their 10 visits to Leipzig’s stadium and have not beaten Die Roten Bullen since a 2-1 home win in October 2019. That record, however, is not a concern for Freiburg coach Julian Schuster.

“The statistics don’t have any impact on how we approach a game," he said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. 

"That’s something that we as a coaching staff try to pass on to the team in order to head into the game feeling positive. We know what we’re up against and now have another chance on Wednesday to get the better of Leipzig,” he continued.

Team News

Philipp Lienhart (abdominals) has joined long-term absentee Daniel Kofi-Kyereh (knee) on the sidelines after being forced off against HSV. 

Otherwise, Julian Schuster should have a full squad at his disposal.
 

Predicted Lineups:

RB Leipzig: Gulácsi – Baku, Orbán, Lukeba, Raum – Baumgartner, Seiwald, Schlager – Harder, Rômulo, Diomande.

SC Freiburg: Atubolu – Kübler, Ginter, Jung, Günter – Eggestein, Osterhage - Treu, Suzuki, Manzambi – Höler.