Just three points behind the Champions League spots, Leipzig’s three league wins this year were emphatic multi-goal margin victories and that seems to be a trademark this season, with eight of their nine Bundesliga wins all clear-cut successes.
RB Leipzig
Perhaps not too much should be read into RB Leipzig’s 3-2 loss to champions-elect (again) Bayern last round, but more their season-best three-game winning Bundesliga run prior to kickstart 2022 which does hint that they may have finally rediscovered their form under new coach Domenico Tedesco. Just three points behind the Champions League spots, Leipzig’s three league wins this year were emphatic multi-goal margin victories and that seems to be a trademark this season, with eight of their nine Bundesliga wins all clear-cut successes. Though the ‘Red Bulls’ have never suffered more than one home league defeat at this stage in any prior season, only once have they registered more than their current eight home wins.
Despite that helping them to claim 77 per cent of their total points at home this campaign, the big news in German football is that Leipzig (along with other clubs) have taken legal action to try and bolster their home support, currently restricted to one thousand due to Covid-19 rules.
FC Koln
Cologne sit one place above their opponents after beating Freiburg, and now have only one point less than at this stage in 2016/2017 – their best season this century (fifth). Much of their success this campaign has been built on strong second halves as five of their eight Bundesliga wins came after a level half-time score. Unbeaten in three against Leipzig, Cologne are also five without defeat on the road this season, in a run that accounts for 82 per cent of their total away points. Three of those five actually saw Cologne recover after conceding the opener, so don’t discount the stubborn ‘Billy Goats’ even if they fall behind.
Andre Silva has finally found his form, netting seven goals in Leipzig’s last nine league games, while Anthony Modeste has scored Cologne’s opening match goal on 12 occasions this season. Eight of the nine all-time league H2Hs saw both teams score.