Two of the teams involved in the incredible battle for the European places in the Bundesliga go head to head on Sunday, with RB Leipzig hosting Eintracht Frankfurt at the Red Bull Arena.
The hosts have been in sensational form during 2022 so far, and go into the weekend in a more commanding position than their visitors, who have improved over the last couple of weeks following a disappointing start to the year.
Match preview
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Leipzig made it seven Bundesliga wins from nine since the turn of the year by hammering bottom-of-the-table Greuther Furth by a 6-1 scoreline last weekend.
Despite Greuther taking a shock lead inside four minutes, Domenico Tedesco's side responded impressively and raced into a 4-1 lead by half time against the minnows, before strolling to an emphatic victory with two further goals in the second 45.
Christopher Nkunku and Emil Forsberg were the standout performers, with the duo both recording a goal and two assists each during the rout, with the former now boasting 26 goals and 12 assists to his name across all competitions this campaign.
The Frenchman has been at the centre of Die Roten Bullen's revival under Tedesco, with the arrival of the former Spartak Moscow boss in December helping Sunday's hosts shake off their poor start to the season to climb into fourth spot in the table ahead of matchday 27.
With just a single point separating Bayer Leverkusen in third and Hoffenheim in sixth, there remains plenty to be done between now and May for Leipzig to maintain their status as a Champions League outfit come the 2022-23 campaign, with both Freiburg and Hoffenheim below them keeping up the pressure thanks to some excellent form themselves.
Despite avoiding a gruelling two-legged tie with Spartak in the Europa League over the past week courtesy of a bye, the encounter at the Red Bull Arena will be Leipzig's 14th of the year already, with Tedesco's regularly-rotated side doing battle on three fronts in these closing stages of the season.
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Meanwhile, the visitors were in action in the Europa League on Thursday, and a hard-fought 120-minute clash with Real Betis is sure to have taken its toll on Oliver Glasner's side ahead of their trip to Leipzig.
Die Adler progressed 3-2 on aggregate to reach the quarter-finals stage in Europe, thanks to Guido Rodriguez's own goal in stoppage time of the second half of extra time to level the scores 1-1 on the night.
The result means that Frankfurt continued their revival over the last two weeks, with the 2-1 win in Spain a week earlier being played in between two successive victories in the Bundesliga.
A narrow 2-1 victory over VfL Bochum last weekend followed the 4-1 hammering of a desperately-struggling Hertha Berlin side on matchday 25, which has seen Frankfurt just about keep up with the European-chasing pack above them in the table.
Just four points from a possible 21 to begin 2022 saw Glasner's side slide down the league table, and although an improvement in recent weeks has provided fresh hopes of continental qualification, Sunday's visitors head into the tough trip seven points behind the top six.
However, with just one defeat in their last nine meetings against their weekend opponents, Frankfurt will be hoping their recent encounters will play a part in a big clash during this race for Europe in the German top flight.
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Team News
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With a rare midweek rest being enjoyed this week, Tedesco has a near fully-fit side to choose from on Sunday, which could prove decisive in the outcome of the match.
Lukas Klostermann is unlikely to feature due to a muscular problem, but with Dani Olmo overcoming his recent illness, Kevin Kampl looks to be the only other concern for the hosts.
The midfielder could miss the next couple of games with a head injury, but Tedesco possesses the option of naming an unchanged lineup from last weekend's hammering at Greuther.
Olmo will be pushing to return to the starting 11 following his return to fitness, but despite improving his form this side of the winter break, the excellent display from Forsberg last week is likely to result in the Swede partnering Nkunku and Andre Silva in attack once more.
As for the visitors, Djibril Sow will miss the trip to Leipzig through a one-match suspension following his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend.
Diant Ramaj and Ragnar Ache are unavailable for another couple of weeks due to injury, whilst Danny da Costa is likely to miss out until next month due to a groin strain.
Despite naming a full-strength team on Thursday, Glasner is unlikely to make too many changes from his tired side, with Sebastian Rode potentially being the only adjustment for the suspended Sow.
Jens Petter Hauge is an alternative in the front three should the boss look to freshen up his 11, but the trio of Jesper Lindstrom, Rafael Santos Borre and Daichi Kamada should keep their places.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Simakan, Orban, Gvardiol; Henrichs, Laimer, Haidara, Angelino; Forsberg; Nkunku, Silva
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Knauff, Jakic, Rode, Kostic; Lindstrom, Kamada; Borre
We say: RB Leipzig 3-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
With Leipzig enjoying a far greater period of rest and preparation heading into this clash, as well as performing excellently in the year so far, we are predicting a comfortable home win.
Frankfurt may have improved slightly in recent weeks but it has hardly been too convincing considering the calibre of their opponents, whilst Leipzig look back to their punishing best going forward, and their front line is likely to enjoy themselves on Sunday.
Top tip
Matthew Tranter
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 64.17%. A draw had a probability of 19.6% and a win for Eintracht Frankfurt had a probability of 16.21%.
The most likely scoreline for a RB Leipzig win was 2-0 with a probability of 9.97%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.89%) and 1-0 (9.2%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.13%), while for a Eintracht Frankfurt win it was 1-2 (4.53%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood.
