Lipsia v Union Berlin is a match on Bundesliga matchday 20 and is played on Saturday at 18:30: TV, line-ups, predictions.
Closing Bundesliga Saturday with a bang. They face two teams who are trying to attack the first place of Bayern Munich, a few hours earlier engaged at the Allianz Arena against Bochum. With the Bavarians clear favourites, Leipzig and Union Berlin – fourth and second respectively – will vie for points in a title fight that has suddenly become exciting again.
After a stuttering start, to say the least, the Roten Bullen have returned to the top areas. The turning point came with the arrival of the new coach, Marco Rose, who was looking for redemption after his unsuccessful year on the bench of Borussia Dortmund. It is mainly thanks to him that Leipzig are now back in the Champions League zone, just four points behind the top. The red-and-whites have not lost for 18 matches – including the German Cup and Champions League – and boast the third best attack (39 goals) after Bayern and Eintracht Frankfurt. On Saturday, however, Leipzig did not go beyond a draw in the away match in Cologne: for the first time since the season began, Rose’s men could not find the way to a goal. The absence of goal scorer Nkunku, who has just returned to training, is evidently beginning to be felt.
Orban out for good cause
Facing Union Berlin, the team captain, Hungarian Willi Orban, who stopped training to donate stem cells to a cancer patient, will also be missing. Other defections include Dani Olmo, Gulacsi and Diallo.
The Prediction
Leipzig are three games away from equalling their Bundesliga unbeaten record, achieved in the 2018-19 season with Rangnick on the bench. Since Rose’s arrival, the red and white have won six out of seven matches at the Red Bull Arena and are also slight favourites over Union Berlin, in a balanced clash that promises sparks, considering that they come face to face with two teams in great form and in confidence. We imagine there will be at least three goals overall in the big match of Bundesliga day number twenty.
Leipzig v Union Berlin likely line-ups
- LIPSIA (4-4-2): Blaswich; Henrichs, Klostermann, Gvardiol, Halstenberg; Szoboszlai, Laimer, Schlager, Forsberg; André Silva, Werner.
- UNION BERLIN (3-5-2): Ronnow; Doekhi, Knoche, Leite; Juranovic, Laidouni, Khedira, Haberer, Gießelmann; Becker, Behrens.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
