Preview:RB Leipzig vs FC Koln - prediction, team news, lineups

FC Koln will be looking to preserve their unbeaten start to the Bundesliga season when they travel to the Red Bull Arena for a tasty clash with RB Leipzig this Saturday night.

Die Roten Bullen have seemingly recovered from their six-goal thumping away at Bayern Munich, while the Billy Goats are setting their sights on their fourth competitive win.

Match preview

Ole Werner’s first Bundesliga game as manager of RB Leipzig proved to be a real baptism of fire, with his team falling to a crushing 6-0 defeat against defending champions Bayern Munich.

Despite the severe body blow on his debut, Werner has since steadied the ship. A 2-0 victory over Heidenheim was followed up with a 1-0 success away at Mainz 05, leaving the team with six points from their opening three matches.

With no European duties on their plate, Leipzig have an opportunity to put all their focus towards the Bundesliga and improve on a disappointing seventh-placed finish last season.

Having won their last two games without reply, Die Roten Bullen will be hoping to continue their upward trajectory against FC Koln – a side they beat 6-0 and 5-1 last time out.

Speaking of the Billy Goats, they remain one of five unbeaten teams in the Bundesliga this season after picking up seven points from their opening three games.

Lukas Kwasniok - who was named head coach over the summer - oversaw a 1-0 victory away at Mainz on the opening weekend of the campaign, before his men followed that up with a shock 4-1 demolition of Freiburg.

Koln’s impressive winning run came to an end last weekend, though scoring two stoppage-time goals to seal a 3-3 draw away at Wolfsburg certainly felt like a win for the Billy Goats.

Koln - who won the German second tier last season - have been able to hit the ground running early, and with that in mind, the club may start looking beyond their initial goal of avoiding relegation.

RB Leipzig Bundesliga form:

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RB Leipzig form (all competitions):

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FC Koln Bundesliga form:

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FC Koln form (all competitions):

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Team News

RB Leipzig are still without midfielder Amadou Haidara, who continues to nurse his knee injury; the 27-year-old has not played competitively since a 3-3 draw against Bayern Munich last May.

Benjamin Henrichs is struggling with an Achilles tendon issue, and he is not expected back until October.

Last weekend, two more names joined the injury list, with Antonio Nusa and Xaver Schlager both picking up problems during the win over Mainz.

Koln, on the other hand, head into the weekend without Luca Kilian, who is still battling with his knee injury and is expected to be out for the season.

Dutchman Rav van den Berg is also set to miss the fixture after picking up a shoulder problem. The 21-year-old has made two appearances for the club since joining from Middlesbrough.

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup: Gulacsi; Baku, Orban, Lukeba, Raum; Banzuzi, Seiwald, Baumgartner; Bakayoko, Romulo, Diomande

FC Koln possible starting lineup: Schwabe; Sebulonsen, Schmied, Hubers, Lund; Johannesson, Martel; Thielmann, Waldschmidt, Kaminski; Bulter

We say: RB Leipzig 2-2 FC Koln

RB Leipzig have been able to keep a couple of clean sheets, but doing that for a third time against Koln will not be an easy task.

The Billy Goats are on fire during these early weeks of the season, and they are likely to test Leipzig’s defensive resolve. Bearing everything in mind, we are backing a high-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.