RB Leipzig vs Hertha Berlin
Red Bull Arena, Leipzig
Wednesday, 27-05-2020 @7:30pm
RB Leipzig will be hoping to capitalize on Borussia Dortmund loss to Bayern on Tuesday, when they take on Hertha Berlin on Wednesday.
The Red Bull bankrolled side sit third, just three points behind Dortmund on the standings.
Boosting a better goal difference, Leipzig will climb into second with victory over a Hertha side that are coming off a moral boosting victory this past weekend.
Leipzig defeated Mainz 5-0 this past weekend with striker Timo Werner scoring a hat trick and in the process snapping a five match goal drought.
The win also was Leipzig’s frist in four games having drawn all their previous three fixtures including a 1-1 stalemate in their last home games against Freiburg.
For Hertha, they defeated city rivals Union 4-0 in their most recent fixture, a result that should give them enough confidence going into Wednesday’s match.
Leipzig’s Konrad Laimer left the pitch before half time with a knee injury against Mainz and is unlikely to play any part on Wednesday evening. Th hosts are also expected to still be without back injury victim Ethan Ampadu, but Dayot Upamecano got an hour under his belt at the weekend after returning from suspension and will start this game.Patrik Schick and Angelino are options to come into the side should Nagelsmann opt to rotate, with two games in three days likely to test the fitness of his squad.
As for Hertha, Marius Wolf has recovered from a foot injury and Mathew Leckie is also back in contention. Matheus Cunha joined the Old Lady from Leipzig in January and should get the chance to show his former employers what they are missing out on. Goals in back-to-back matches for Vedad Ibisevic will surely be enough for him to retain his place as the focal point in attack, meanwhile, with big-money signing Krzysztof Piatek watching on from the bench.
Leipzig have won six of the seven Bundesliga meetings between the two sides, with Hertha’s sole victory coming at the Red Bull Arena in 2017 courtesy of a 3-2 victory. Leipzig have picked up all three points in all four of the last four matches against Hertha and have scored 18 goals in the process. They’ve chalked up 26 goals in total against Hertha, more than against any other team and this match averages a goal every 19 minutes. Julien Nagelsmann’s team have scored more goals (68) than they managed across last season in its entirety (63), breaking their club-record 66-goal return of 2016/17. Hertha are unbeaten in the four games in which Cunha has found the net (W2, D2). In their derby win over Union, Hertha scored three goals or more in the second half of a Bundesliga game for the second game running. Of Ibisevic’s 43 goals for Hertha, 19 have been the opening goal of a game while the Berliners are undefeated when Ibisevic has scored first (W15, D4).
Bundesliga other fixtures on Wednesday
-Hoffenheim vs Koln @9:30pm
-Dusseldorf vs Schalke @9:30pm
-Augsburg vs Paderbon @9:30pm
-Union Berlin vs Mainz @9:30pm
Bundealiga results – Tuesday, 26-05-2020
-Dortmund 0-1 Bayern
-Leverkusen 1-4 Wolfsburg
-Frankfurt 3-3 Freiburg
-Bremen 0-0 Monchengladbach
