RB Leipzig vs. Union Berlin preview: Red Bulls look to end losing streak
Reeling Leipzig hope to end their three-game losing streak as they host Union Berlin to end Matchday 20.
RB Leipzig
Leipzig had a brutal schedule to start the calendar year with three straight games against teams in the top six and they’ve lost all three. The defense has let up nine goals over that span, which has led Marco Rose to give Peter Gulacsi a start in goal this weekend over Janis Blaswich.
The Red Bull club had a fairly quiet end to the transfer window and luckily don’t have any squad injuries at the moment. They are hoping to repeat their first meeting of the season against Union on Matchday 3, in which they won 3-0.
Rose commented, “We’re not happy. We’ve lost our last three games. We’re not used to this. Now, it’s important that we don’t sugarcoat things. We need to address some painful subjects. - At the end of the day though, football is a results business and we’re not getting the results at the moment.”
Team News
Xavi Simons is available after serving a yellow-card suspension and there’s a chance that Willi Orban could start. Amadou Haidara is away at the AFCON and Mohamed Simakan is suspended.
Union Berlin
Union are coming off a huge win over Darmstadt and now sit five points clear of the relegation zone with a game in hand. Nenad Bjelica will watch from the stands again this weekend as he continues to serve a red-card suspension, meaning Marie-Louise Eta will roam the touchline.
Christopher Trimmel will likely start on the right side this week with Benedict Hollerbach and Kevin Volland up front. Kevin Behrens has left to Wolfsburg, but Union did complete the signing of young striker Yorbe Vertessen from PSV this week.
Eta stated, “The opponent has recently lost three times in a row. It is already written about a supposed crisis. But of course, Leipzig has the quality to end it immediately.”
Team News
Josip Juranovic is the only confirmed absentee, but Eta hinted in her presser that there were a couple players still dealing with minor knocks.