Borussia Dortmund will be looking to guarantee themselves the runners-up spot in the Bundesliga this season when they travel to RB Leipzig on Saturday afternoon.
BVB are currently second to champions Bayern Munich in Germany's top flight, but they are only three points clear of third-placed Leipzig ahead of this weekend's mouthwatering contest.
Match preview
© Reuters
Leipzig are unbeaten in the Bundesliga since the end of January, while they have only lost three of their 32 league matches this season, which is the best record in the division, even ahead of Bayern.
Too many draws have cost Julian Nagelsmann's side the chance to challenge for the title, though, and they are currently locked in a battle with Dortmund to secure the runners-up spot in the table.
Leipzig have drawn four and won three of their seven matches since the return of the Bundesliga in the middle of May, and they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Fortuna Dusseldorf on Wednesday night.
The Red Bulls will also have to prepare for life after Timo Werner, who is heading for Chelsea this summer. The striker will officially join the Premier League giants in July, meaning that he will not be available for the club's Champions League quarter-final tie in August.
Leipzig will finish their 2019-20 Bundesliga season against Augsburg on June 27 and will hope that two wins in their next two matches are enough to claim second in the table.
© Reuters
Dortmund, meanwhile, will enter Saturday's match off the back of a shock 2-0 home defeat to Mainz on Wednesday night.
Bayern had secured the Bundesliga title with a 1-0 victory at Werder Bremen on Tuesday and arguably that disappointment translated to the Dortmund players 24 hours later.
Lucien Favre's side have still won 20 of their 32 league matches this term, though, and the runners-up spot is in their own hands, with a victory this weekend enough to claim the position behind Bayern.
It promises to be a fascinating summer for BVB as the speculation surrounding Jadon Sancho continues; Manchester United continue to be linked with the England international, but it remains to be seen whether the Red Devils can agree a deal due to the state of the market.
Dortmund played out a 3-3 draw with Leipzig in the reverse match at Signal Iduna Park earlier this season, but they recorded a 1-0 victory at the Red Bull Arena on their last visit in January 2019.
Leipzig Bundesliga form: WDWDWD
Dortmund Bundesliga form: WLWWWL
Team News
© Reuters
Leipzig will again be without the services of Hannes Wolf, Yussuf Poulsen and Fabrice Hartmann for Saturday's contest, but Ethan Ampadu could be available following a back problem.
There are expected to be changes from the side that started against Dusseldorf, with Dayot Upamecano and Patrik Schick both in line to return to the starting XI.
Werner should also keep his spot despite news of an agreement with Chelsea.
As for Dortmund, Manuel Akanji, Thomas Delaney, Mahmoud Dahoud and Dan-Axel Zagadou will all miss out through injury, while Marco Reus is also a huge doubt despite recently returning to training.
There are unlikely to be many changes from the side that started the defeat to Mainz, meaning that Erling Braut Haaland should again lead the line with support from Sancho and Thorgan Hazard.
The team's defensive concerns could see Emre Can again start at the back, with Axel Witsel and Julian Brandt likely to feature as the midfield two.
Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Mukiele, Upamecano, Klostermann, Angelino; Sabitzer, Kampl, Laimer; Olmo; Schick, Werner
Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Burki; Piszczek, Hummels, Can; Hakimi, Brandt, Witsel, Guerreiro; Hazard, Haaland, Sancho
We say: Leipzig 2-2 Dortmund
This has the makings of a real classic, particularly considering that the two sides shared the points in a six-goal thriller earlier this season. We are expecting another open match at the Red Bull Arena but are finding it difficult to separate them once again, ultimately backing a 2-2 draw.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a RB Leipzig win with a probability of 39.95%. A win for Borussia Dortmund had a probability of 35.93% and a draw had a probability of 24.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a RB Leipzig win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.65%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.54%) and 2-0 (5.88%). The likeliest Borussia Dortmund win was 1-2 (8.14%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.07%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood.
