Lewandowski's absence gives Leipzig perfect chance
Eight games remain in the 2020/2021 German Bundesliga season. Normally by this stage, the destination of the title would be pretty obviously heading to Bayern Munich once more, and whilst they are yet again leading the way, the gap is only four points. More importantly, RB Leipzig can cut that to the slimmest of margins late on Saturday afternoon with a win over their rivals, who will be missing prolific Polish striker Robert Lewandowski. They should grab that opportunity. Read our preview here:
Dani, Dani
The international break where most UEFA countries played three FIFA World Cup qualifiers came to end in midweek, and whilst it was far from plain sailing for Spain, there were a couple of stand-out performers. One of those was Leipzig's Dani Olmo, but predominantly from a wide attacking position on the left flank. His domestic head coach Julian Nagelsmann tends to have a narrow midfield, with two pairs anchored centrally to help create overloads in the middle and on the counter. This means he becomes more of a creator than a goalscorer for Die Roten Bullen, but his importance is nevertheless undiminished. Against the world giants, he and partner Christopher Nkunku will square up directly to Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka, but the latter duo do have a tendency to gallop forwards. Whilst that presents its own dangers to a rearguard that has been very solid but might be missing one or two individuals, it does also inversely mean there could be space to operate in between the lines if their movement and collective passing are both crisp enough.
No Serge protector required
Another individual who had a good week for his country is Serge Gnabry. Whilst Germany fell to an extremely rare home defeat (and to North Macedonia, of all teams), he enhanced his credentials to be the first name on the finalised squad in the forwards section of the outgoing Joachim Löw's last tournament with two assists in the 3-0 win over Iceland, and the single, crucial goal away in Romania. Although nominally the only striker in Hansi Flick's 4-2-3-1, he will have excellent support from the likes of veteran Thomas Müller (who won't be at the rearranged Euro 2020) just behind him, and the penetrative running of Leroy Sané and Kingsley Coman. In defence, they'll be missing the towering presence of Jérôme Boateng, as well as some difference-makers from the bench against a tiring defence.
Giving wings
Bayern can never be written off in a single match they play, and for good reason. They have appeared more vulnerable and 'mortal' this term, needing to come from behind six times to achieve victory. Defensively as a whole, the natural tendencies to be so attacking have exposed the backline far too often in a calculated move to yield more goals, scoring 24 more than Borussia Dortmund in a distant second on that metric. That said, without Lewandowski, the ball might not stick quite so readily in the final third, and that ought to in turn provide Leipzig with the hope that they can make the run-in very interesting indeed. betway are offering odds of 2.80 for a home win at the Red Bull Arena.
