Home comforts could help Leipzig make a good start to 2022, as this term they’ve scored 83 per cent of their league goals, and gained 82 per cent of their points, at the Red Bull Arena.
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig are hoping their managerial change in December will soon start to pay off as they started the New Year in the Bundesliga’s bottom half. After an up-and-down start to his new job, Domenico Tedesco can spark immediate improvement as a win here would move them ahead of visiting Mainz, although key players are set to miss out due to Covid-19. Home comforts could help Leipzig make a good start to 2022, as this term they’ve scored 83 per cent of their league goals, and gained 82 per cent of their points, at the Red Bull Arena. It’s been all-or-nothing though, as they’re still to draw a home league fixture this term with only one of those fixtures seeing the side scoring first go on to lose.
Mainz
That’s a familiar theme for mid-table Mainz, who haven’t drawn a Bundesliga match since late November, and they’re now looking to make it three straight H2H victories since manager Bo Svensson took charge in January 2021. Coincidentally, there’s been no H2H draw in five meetings, with those fixtures producing an exciting average of 4.6 goals per game! However, another victory seems unlikely for the visitors given their struggles on the road this term, including three consecutive league away defeats before the winter break, all by one-goal margins. That suggests they’ll put up a fight, although with none of their last four Bundesliga away games witnessing scoring after the 75th minute, the fate of this match could be decided early.
Leipzig are unbeaten in competitive matches that Dominik Szoboszlai has scored in since his arrival a year ago. Meanwhile, Alexander Hack has netted twice between the 35th minute and half-time across Mainz’s last five matches. Ahead of the round, Leipzig had scored a league-high eight set-piece goals (including penalties) in Bundesliga home games this term.