RB Leipzig vs Borussia Dortmund: Bundesliga preview, Gameweek 31, 2024

Borussia Dortmund travel to Leipzig this weekend in search of gaining some vital ground on RB Leipzig as both sides battle for the final Champions League spot.

With the home advantage and a two-point gap ahead of Borussia Dortmund in fourth place, Saturday is a huge opportunity for RB Leipzig to build on their lead, and they come into it in great form.

Die Rotten Bullen (The Red Bulls) are unbeaten since early March, drawing one and winning six, with three of those wins coming in their last three.

Even more impressively, in their seven-game unbeaten streak Marco Rose’s men have scored 20 goals while shipping just four.

They put European hopefuls Freiburg to the sword, hammering them 4-1, before comfortably strolling past relegation-threatened Wolfsburg,

Then last weekend Rose's side managed to scrape past hard-to-beat Heidenheim 2-1 last weekend thanks to a late goal from Lois Openda.

With form on their side, an impressive home record of just two losses at the Red Bull Arena all season, and a two-point gap, it’s a huge opportunity for Leipzig to get one hand on their seventh consecutive top-four finish.

But Borussia Dortmund will be fighting tooth and nail to stop them.

Borussia Dortmund have had somewhat of a tricky season. After heartbreakingly losing the title on the final day of last season, Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellows) haven’t exactly come back with a vengeance.

Whilst managing to keep themselves in the Champions League-chasing pack, Edin Terzic would have liked his side to be a little bit further up the table at this point in the season.

Despite this, recent form has shown that Dortmund are very much up for the ensuing battle.

Last weekend Dortmund were agonisingly close to ending Bayer Leverkusen’s astounding 44-game unbeaten run in all competitions, before a 98th-minute equaliser for Xabi Alonso’s side broke Dortmund hearts.

But outside of the Bundesliga, Dortmund cruised into the Champions League semi-finals beating the notoriously impermeable Atletico Madrid 6-3 on aggregate.

Will Leipzig open up a five-point gap in between fourth and fifth or can Dortmund get their necks a point in front? Recent form makes it neigh on impossible to predict. Only tomorrow will tell…

Team news

RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig come into this with a pretty short injury list. Yussuf Poulsen is still out due to a hamstring injury sustained last March

Left-back Christopher Lenz is also unlikely to feature due to a calf issue.

Borussia Dortmund

BVB’s absentee list is quite a bit longer than Leipzig’s.

Captain Emre Can and full-back Ian Maatsen will both be in the stands after both picked up yellow card suspensions last week against Leverkusen.

Striker Sebastien Haller is expected to be out with an ankle problem, and fellow forward Donyell Malen is touch-and-go for Saturday after picking up a knee injury against Borussia Monchengladbach two weeks ago.

Defender Ramy Bensebaini and defensive midfielder Abdoulaye Kamara are also expected to be out.

Expected lineups

RB Leipzig

Gulacsi, Henrichs, Orban (C), Lukeba, Raum, Schlager, Haidara, Simons, Olmo, Sesko, Openda

Borussia Dortmund

Kobel (C), Wolf, Hummels, Schlotterbeck, Ryerson, Ozcan, Sancho, Sabitzer, Brandt, Bynoe-Gittens, Fullkrug

Key players

RB Leipzig - Lois Openda

With 23 goals in 30 Bundesliga games, in another season Lois Openda might have been top of the scoring chart.

The 24-year-old Belgian joined Leipzig this season for 45 million Euros after a stunning season at French side Lens, and he’s taken the league by storm.

His strike partnership with fellow new boy Benjamin Sesko has worked fantastically for Marco Rose’s side and it’s fair to say Leipzig will definitely have a few hungry clubs to fight off to keep the striker in Saxony.

Borussia Dortmund - Julian Brandt

Dortmund have been a quite inconsistent this season, but midfielder Julian Brandt has been far from it.

So far this season the 27-year-old has registered a respectable six goals and 11 assists in the Bundesliga, with him being just one off top in the season’s top assisters chart.

The former Leverkusen man’s fantastic performances and eye for a pass are going to prove crucial in Dortmund’s final push for the top four.