Hoffenheim

2 - 0

RB Leipzig

Hoffenheim are hoping to make it five straight home wins in all competitions when they welcome title-hopefuls RB Leipzig to the PreZero Arena in their Bundesliga clash on Saturday. The hosts have had little trouble in front of their own supporters so far this campaign, whilst the visitors have struggled on the road and remain searching for their first league win away from the Red Bull Arena.

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Match preview

Sebastian Hoeness' Hoffenheim find themselves in a midtable spot of 10th heading into Saturday's return to domestic action following the international break. Consistency, but their away form most notably, has been the main reason for their struggles to maintain a push for a European spot, in what is a highly competitive group of sides chasing the European dream. Four points separate themselves and Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa Conference League spot of sixth, and just a single win from their opening six Bundesliga matches away from home has caused this gap. The most recent of Die Kraichgauer's away-day disappointments arrived at VfL Bochum in their final match before the break, with Hoffenheim falling 2-0 to Thomas Reis' in-form relegation candidates. However, those troubles on the road are slotting between successes in front of their own supporters at the PreZero Arena, with league victories over Wolfsburg, FC Koln and Hertha Berlin being included on a four-match winning streak there along with the 5-1 DFB-Pokal win over Holstein Kiel. Hoeness will be aware that the visitors are a step up in quality compared to recent away sides, but will retain confidence in his players achieving a positive result on Saturday nonetheless. Meanwhile, Jesse Marsch's initial struggles in life at Leipzig have been eased slightly in the weeks leading up to the international break. The American boss has overseen a run of five matches without defeat across all competitions, and although this is a record not to get too excited about for last year's Bundesliga runners-up, it is by far his best spell since taking over from Julian Nagelsmann in the summer. A disappointing Champions League campaign has already seen Die Roten Bullen eliminated at the group stages only four matchdays in, but improvements in domestic action in recent weeks have seen them rise from a bottom-half position to fifth heading into matchday 12. Three defeats from the opening four league games have been followed by an unbeaten run of seven, with a 2-1 victory over fellow title-challengers Borussia Dortmund at the Red Bull Arena being the most recent match of this small streak. Christopher Nkunku was instrumental once again, and were it not for the outstanding start to the campaign from the Frenchman, Leipzig could find themselves in far deeper trouble. The 24-year-old opened the scoring before supplying the winner for Yussuf Poulsen, to take his tally to 11 goals and four assists from 17 appearances across all competitions so far, in what is the brightest form of his short career to date. However, that result against strong opposition has slightly papered over the cracks of a concerning record on their travels, with Leipzig winless from their five Bundesliga away trips so far, with two defeats on their travels in Europe to add to this as well. Marsch will be hopeful that his side can put this right on Saturday, with a victory taking them above Wolfsburg into the top four, should the Wolves fail to win themselves.

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Team News

Hoffenheim look set to be without talisman Andrej Kramaric on Saturday, with the Croatian forward suffering from concussion that he suffered on international duty. Benjamin Hubner nears his return from a long-term injury but also remains doubtful due to a lack of fitness, whilst Ermin Bicakcic, Pavel Kaderabek, Marco John, Sebastian Rudy, Robert Skov and Christoph Baumgartner all remain on the sidelines. Influential midfielder Dennis Geiger also remains a doubt due to a leg injury that has kept him out for the last couple of weeks, in what is a lengthy injury list containing a number of important first-team players for the hosts. As for the visitors, they remain without the defensive long-term absentee duo of Marcel Halstenberg and Marcelo Saracchi, but welcome back the experienced Willi Orban to their back line. The Hungarian should slot into the back three alongside young stars Mohamed Simakan and Josko Gvardiol, with Nordi Mukiele likely being pushed into the right wing-back role in place of Benjamin Henrichs. Amadou Haidara has been listed as a doubt due to an ankle injury, so Kevin Kampl could come into the centre of midfield alongside Tyler Adams should he miss out. Konrad Laimer and Dominik Szoboszlai are expected to remain unavailable until early December, so Dani Olmo and Emil Forsberg will compete with each other for the latter's spot in the forward line of the starting lineup. Hoffenheim possible starting lineup: Baumann; Richards, Grillitsch, Vogt; Akpoguma, Samassekou, Stiller, Raum; Dabbur; Rutter, Bebou RB Leipzig possible starting lineup: Gulacsi; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Mukiele, Kampl, Adams, Angelino; Poulsen, Forsberg; Nkunku

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We said: Hoffenheim 1-2 RB Leipzig

Although they are winless on their Bundesliga travels so far, we can see Leipzig coming out victorious here on Saturday, with their vital win over Dortmund last time out providing them with a much-needed confidence boost. The visitors are finally beginning to find their feet after a slow start to the campaign and we believe they will end Hoffenheim's winning streak at home in this one, particularly with the hosts likely to be without a number of first-team players.

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