Hamburg vs RB Leipzig preview

September 6, 2017
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

It’s been a while since Hamburg last enjoyed such a good start to the season and they will be eager to make it three wins in a row on Friday evening.

RB Leipzig, on the other hand, hammered Freiburg to make amends for the opening defeat and they, too, will be hoping for more of the same.

Hamburg remain the only club never to have been relegated from German Bundesliga, and it appears that a higher force is keeping them safe from relegation.

Over the last few years, the Red Shorts came incredibly close to the drop on several occasions only to miraculously survive, but they will be hoping for a different season this term.

The club were again active in the transfer window, adding the likes of Papadopoulos, Hahn, Pollersbeck and van Drongelen, while Michael Gregoritsch was the only notable player to depart.

New players did well to quickly integrate into the squad, helping Hamburg record back to back wins over Augsburg and Koln in their opening two fixtures.

The Red Shorts will now attempt to make it three on the trot and they can be backed at 4.20 (16/5) to succeed in their quest.

Filip Kostic, Bobby Wood may not be in the best shape having represented their respective national teams on Tuesday, but Mergik Mavraj is suspended. Aaron Hunt and Nicolai Muller are out injured.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Mathenia – Diekmeier, Papadopoulos, Jung, van Drongelen – Ekdal, Walace – Hahn, Waldschmidt, Holtby – Wood.

RB Leipzig pulled off a major coup by finishing as runners up last season and they now hope to prove the doubters wrong and enjoy another strong campaign.

The Red Bulls did really well to keep the entire squad together in spite of the heavy interest in Emil Forsberg and Naby Keita, while also adding Kevin Kampl, Jeffrey Bruma and Konrad Laimer to their ranks.

And while their performances in pre-season and the opening DFB Pokal match were decent enough, Leipzig suffered a 2-0 loss to Schalke in their first Bundesliga fixture.

Nevertheless, the Red Bulls showed considerable improvement to record a 4-1 triumph over Freiburg next time out, coming from a goal behind.

Their in-form striker Timo Werner also shone on international stage, bagging 3 goals in qualifiers against Czech Republic and Norway, so he is likely to prove a handful for opposition defenders.

New signing Kevin Kampl is likely to be in contention, just like Marcel Sabitzer who picked up a minor calf injury on international duty. Yussuf Poulsen faces a fitness test as he battles an adductor problem.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Gulacsi – Klostermann, Upamecano, Orban, Halstenberg – Sabitzer, Demme, Keita, Forsberg – Bruma, Werner.

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