RB Leipzig host bottom club Paderborn as they continue hunt for survival

Credit: RB Leipzig

Leipzig will be looking for a win against last placed Paderborn as they chase Dortmund for second place in the Bundesliga.

A 4-2 win away against Koln last time out for Leipzig saw Julian Nagelsmann’s men stay two points away from second-placed Dortmund.

Paderborn faced Dortmund last time out and were smashed 6-1 via a hat-trick from Jadon Sancho although a penalty from Uwe Hunemeier gave Dortmund a brief scare.

Team news

Leipzig will again be unable to call upon Kevin Kampl, Yussuf Poulsen, Ibrahima Konate, Ethan Ampadu or Fabrice Hartmann for Saturday’s contest.

As for Paderborn, Luca Kilian is still on the sidelines with a thigh problem, while Jamilu Collins will miss out through suspension due to the yellow card he picked up against Dortmund.

RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann spoke about Paderborn and for the team at the bottom of the Bundesliga not to be underestimated.

“Paderborn always finds playful solutions and has remained true to his line throughout the season. The team aspires to play their games in an attractive and playful way. I like that.

“The past has shown that they are always on the gas and try to score. We are In terms of the table, it is practically forced to score three times and therefore we will never go one step less just because Paderborn is bottom of the table.”

Despite the overwhelming 1-6 loss against Borussia Dortmund, head coach Steffen Baumgart wants to hold onto his game system.

“We want to remain brave, this refreshing football has made us very successful in the past two years.”

“The result hurts a lot. We also failed because of the quality of the opponent. But the final hate shouldn’t have been like that, it was unnecessary.”

“There is nothing better than playing in the Bundesliga. We want to maintain our small chance of staying in the league.”

“We did well over long distances and were often very close. In many situations we had the opportunity to do better.”