RB Leipzig vs Werder Bremen 22/12/18

22 December 2018

RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen will face-off at the Red Bull Arena, as the hosts look to extend an outstanding nine-game home unbeaten run in all competitions.

Although the Bulls have been struggling for form in the past two months, they’ve still managed to maintain impressive displays in front of the local crowd over and over (W6, D2). Having lost three out of last five Bundesliga clashes, the Red Bulls currently sit fourth in the table, as they need a victory to remain in the Champions League promotion zone ahead of the second half of the season. A potential problem for Ralf Rangnick ahead of this meeting could be that his players failed to keep a clean sheet in six out of their previous seven competitive encounters, conceding exactly one goal per match five times in the process. However, Leipzig have scored at least two goals in four out of last five Bundesliga games at home, keeping a clean sheet four times during the run. Moreover, only Borussia Monchengladbach (3) have shipped fewer goals than Leipzig (4) at home this term.

On the other hand, the visitors are going through a difficult period, having won just one out of previous seven Bundesliga clashes, conceding at least one goal in each. The River Islanders indifferent road form (W3, D1, L3) has seen them securing only four points on their last five road trips in the Bundesliga. Their defensive frailties have seen them conceding in six out of seven road matches this campaign. What’s more, Werder have lost all three encounters with Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena, conceding at least two goals per match in the process. However, the Green-Whites are one of two teams that have managed to score in each of their away encounters so far although Florian Kohfeldt’s players scored more than one goal per match just once on their previous five road trips in the Bundesliga.

Provisional line-up – RB Leipzig:

Gk: Gulacsi Defense: Klostermann – Upamecano – Orban – Halstenberg Midfield: Demme – Kempl – Sabitzer – Laimer Attack: Poulsen – Werner

Provisional line-up – Werder Bremen:

Gk: Pavlenka Defense: Augustinsson – Langkamp – Veljkovic – Selassie Midfield: Mohwald – Maximilian Eggestein – Klaassen – Johannes Eggestein Attack: Rashica – Max Kruse