RB Leipzig vs. Wolfsburg preview: Hosts in need of a response

RB Leipzig

Marco Rose's side are in the midst of a poor run of form, having lost four of their last five matches in all competitions. They began that period of results with away defeats against Borussia Dortmund and Celtic in the Bundesliga and the Champions League respectively. Die Roten Bullen went on to play out a goalless draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach, before they suffered a 4-3 defeat in last Saturday’s clash against Hoffenheim.

Unfortunately for Leipzig, they fell to another defeat in Tuesday’s Champions League away meeting with Inter Milan. Castello Lukeba’s first-half own goal proved enough to condemn Leipzig to a narrow 1-0 loss, leaving Marco Rose’s side in 34th place in the league phase without a point to their name. 

With each of their last four defeats taking place on the road, Leipzig will be looking forward to returning to the Red Bull Arena, where they are yet to lose in the Bundesliga this season. In fact, the third-placed side has gone 12 consecutive Bundesliga home games without defeat since they lost 3-2 to Bayer Leverkusen in January.

Team News

The hosts are unable to call upon Yussuf Poulsen, Xavi Simons, Assan Ouédraogo, David Raum, Lukas Klostermann, Eljif Elmas and El Chadaille Bitshiabu.

Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg are sitting in 11th position in the Bundesliga after winning four, drawing three and losing four of their 11 matches. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side have put together a four-game unbeaten league run since they lost 4-2 in last month’s home meeting with Werder Bremen. They kicked off that unbeaten spell with consecutive draws, before they ran out 3-1 winners in their away match against Heidenheim. Die Wölfe added three more points to their tally with a narrow 1-0 win in last Saturday’s clash against Union Berlin, with Ridle Baku netting the game’s decisive goal to guide his team to their first home win of the Bundesliga season.

They will now head on their travels as they look to build upon their recent success on the road, having won three of their five away league games this season (D1, L1). After beating Heidenheim in their most recent away trip, Wolfsburg have the chance to record back-to-back away league victories for the first time since February/March 2023. However, that may be easier than done because they have not beaten Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena since claiming a 1-0 victory in March 2017.

Team News

The visitors will be without the services of Niklas Klinger, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Aster Vranckx, Lovro Majer, Bartosz Białek, Kevin Paredes and Rogério.