Hoffenheim-Leipzig is a Bundesliga match of the thirteenth day and is played on Saturday at 15:30: line-ups, predictions, TV and streaming
Eight defeats and two draws in the last ten games for a rampant Leipzig, nowhere near as good as they were at the start of the season with Domenico Tedesco on the bench. After a short period of adjustment, Marco Rose managed to revive the Roten Bullen, who are now in the round of 16 of the Champions League – the decisive victory was an exaggerated 4-0 win over Shakhtar in Warsaw on Wednesday – and once again in the race for fourth place in the Bundesliga. With the success against Bayer Lverkusen, Leipzig climbed to 19 points, three less than Borussia Dortmund and six points behind Bayern Munich. And if we consider that at the top there is Union Berlin, who have 26 points, it is not a gamble to hypothesise a possible return of Werner and his companions to the title race. Which, at the moment, is shaping up to be closer than expected, given that the Bavarians had already taken the lead in recent seasons.
In Poland, meanwhile, Christopher Nkunku was once again on the scorers’ sheet, increasingly a dragging force. The French striker has scored 22 goals this calendar year and, should he score another in the next three games, he would equal the record currently held by Timo Werner, who returned this year after a Premier League stint at Chelsea. Leipzig, who, having archived the magic European night, are looking for more heavy points in the direct clash at home to Hoffenheim. The team from Sinsheim has one point less than its next opponents, although it has dropped in performance compared to the first days of the Bundesliga. Since mid-September Andre Breitenreiter’s men have barely won a game, and against the newly promoted Schalke 04 last in the league table.
The Prediction
Only Union Berlin and Bayern Munich have so far conceded fewer goals than Hoffenheim, a team to be taken with a grain of salt despite losing both of their last two matches in front of their home crowd (Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich). The feeling is that Leipzig may feel the fatigue of the double commitment, but they are unlikely to return home empty-handed from Sinsheim. We imagine a match of at least one goal each
The likely Hoffenheim-Leipzig line-up
- HOFFENHEIM (3-4-1-2): Baumann; Akpoguma, Vogt, Nsoki; Skov, Prömel, Geiger, Angelino; Baumgartner; Rutter, Kramaric.
- LIPSIA (4-2-3-1): Blaswich; Simakan, Orban, Diallo, Raum; Haidara, Schlager; Szoboszlai, Nkunku, Forsberg; André Silva.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
