BUNDESLIGA MATCH PREVIEW: A CRUCIAL SIX-POINTER IN LEIPZIG

The Bundesliga season is wrapping up, and with the title race being officially over, it can sometimes be difficult to stay hyped for the remaining matches. Tomorrow’s match between RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund was one that, a month ago, seemed like it would be one of the most important of the season. RB Leipzig and BVB have been locked in a race for the final top-four spot, and this six-pointer seemed to be the inevitable deciding point of that race. However, the Bundesliga’s success in European competitions over the past weeks has made it almost certain that there will be five German clubs, not four, making it to the Champions League. However, it’s still not set in stone, so until the fifth spot is guaranteed, BVB will still need to fight for the top four.

BVB are safely nestled in the fifth spot of the Bundesliga, well above Eintracht Frankfurt, with RB Leipzig only two points ahead of the Black and Yellows. Stuttgart and Bayern are going to be almost impossible to catch, so the only remaining achievement to fight for is a place in the top four. In that context, this game is a real six-pointer, and Edin Terzic will hope that he can do better against Leipzig than he did at The Westfalenstadion, where an early red card for Mats Hummels made life very difficult for his side in the reverse fixture. What is certain is, that Leipzig won’t be an easy opponent. The Cans are unbeaten in their last eight outings, drawing only two games in the process. This is going to be one of those tough ones for Edin Terzic, and in isolation, it’s surely the most important game left of the season.

Player to Watch: Loïs Openda

A tally of 23 goals and 6 assists in 30 games pretty much speaks for itself. Since joining from Lens in July 2023, Openda has quickly found his footing in Leipzig. The 24-year old Belgian is not only lightning quick—he’s also a lethal finisher and pretty good with his head, having scored 4 headed goals and 7(!) last season in the French League 1.

Together with the rest of RB Leipzig’s attacking talent, primarily Simons, Šeško and Olmo, Openda and the rest of the Leipzig team have been scoring almost at free will lately. If The Black and Yellows are going to win this game, my honest guess is that they are going to need at least three goals to do so.

Predicted XI:

Ramy Bensebaini, Sebastién Haller and Donyell Malen are out through injury. Emre Can and Ian Maatsen will be out due to both receiving fifth yellows during the match against Bayer Leverkusen last week. Therefore, Terzic will need to rotate the squad quite a bit, but the replacements aren’t going to be a big surprise—at least if you ask me.

Again, not too many surprises. I honestly think I would rather have the more defensively sturdy Süle in the right back position against Xavi Simons and the attacking-minded David Raum, but I’m not the coach! The biggest downgrade in this lineup is obviously replacing Maatsen with Wolf, but I doubt that this one change will be the deciding factor tomorrow.

Scoreline Prediction:

I’m not feeling particularly optimistic about this one, even though BVB have actually been fairly decent lately. Leipzig are on the up, and a defensively frail BVB side will probably have a very hard time keeping one of the best attacking sides in the Bundesliga away from goal. I hope I’m proven wrong by the end, but until then:

Scoreline prediction: RB Leipzig 3-2 Dortmund

2024-04-26T18:09:54Z dg43tfdfdgfd