RB Leipzig vs. Mainz 05 preview: Die Roten Bullen looking to cement to…

RB Leipzig vs. Mainz 05 preview: Die Roten Bullen looking to cement to…

With Ole Werner’s Leipzig and Urs Fischer’s Mainz locked in battles at reverse ends of the desk, Saturday’s conflict at the Red Bull Arena guarantees to be a tense affair, with a vital three factors on the line for each side.

RB Leipzig

Leipzig have endured a spell of inconsistency in latest weeks. After a flying start to the season that noticed them lose just twice of their opening 13 matches, the Red Bulls have since been overwhelmed thrice of their last six, putting their top-four place – which they presently maintain only on objective distinction – under rising risk as rivals start to collect tempo.

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That patchy type continued in midweek, as Leipzig have been held to a 1-1 draw away at relegation-threatened St. Pauli on Tuesday night. Yan Diomande’s 66th-minute opener seemed set to safe all three factors, however a scarcity of attacking intent stored the hosts alive until Martijn Kaars transformed a stoppage-time penalty to snatch an equaliser. Despite the late setback, the draw was sufficient for Leipzig to leapfrog Stuttgart into fourth on as they push for a return to European soccer.

Ole Werner has called on his aspect to present higher ruthlessness in the final third:

“There will also be phases again where Mainz sits deep, as was the case in the last matches. As such, it’s always a difficult task to create chances against a deep-lying opponent. Against St. Pauli, we had some situations where it came down to the final pass or contact. We’re still lacking a bit in being more precise in those moments and demonstrating that precision.”

Team news: 

Asan Ouédraogo, Castello Lukeba and Viggo Gebel stay sidelined, while new signing Suleiman Sani has picked up an ankle injury in training that will rule him out for a number of weeks. Christoph Baumgartner is suspended after accumulating his fifth yellow card, though Johan Bakayoko has returned to training, with a call on his availability anticipated on Friday.

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Mainz 05

Life under Urs Fischer has taken a clear flip for the better in Mainz. The 05ers have climbed out of the automated relegation locations and up to fifteenth, dropping just one in every of their last six league fixtures. The one lingering hump to overcome in Fischer’s early tenure is Mainz’s away type, with a first highway victory still proving elusive – a development they are going to be determined to change on Saturday.

Last time out produced a morale-boosting comeback win at dwelling against Wolfsburg, with Mainz prevailing 3-1 in the end despite going behind inside the opening three minutes. New signing Philipp Tietz and Nadiem Amiri continued to impress under the new supervisor, each getting on the scoresheet as Stefan Bell grabbed the other in a dominant Mainz performance. The 34-year-old defender is now in line to make his three hundredth Bundesliga look this weekend.

Fischer is setting his sights firmly on all three factors in Leipzig:

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“There are three points for the taking here. That has to be the goal in every game we play, no matter where we travel to. If you believe anything else, you may as well not get on the bus or the plane.”

Team news: 

Robin Zentner, Nikolas Veratschnig, Anthony Caci and Andreas Hanche-Olsen continue their recoveries and can miss out. Sota Kawasaki was pressured to reduce quick his training session on Wednesday and is uncertain.

H-2-H report

Leipzig have misplaced just one in every of the last 4 conferences between the two sides, although Mainz are unbeaten of their last three visits to the Red Bull Arena. The reverse fixture on matchday three led to a slender 1-0 Leipzig victory, courtesy of a Johan Bakayoko strike.

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Predicted lineups

RB Leipzig (4-3-3): Gulácsi (GK) – Baku, Orbán, Bitshiabu, Raum – Seiwald, Banzuzi, Schlager – Nusa, Rômulo, Diomande

Mainz 05 (3-5-2): Batz (GK) – Posch, Bell, Kohr – da Costa, J-S Lee, Sano, Amiri, Widmer – Hollerbach, Tietz

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