RB Leipzig vs Borussia Dortmund Predictions

• RB Leipzig have won their last four home games against Borussia Dortmund
• Dortmund have lost three of their last five away Bundesliga games
• Leipzig have more to gain than Dortmund and will be fresher than their Champions League-focused rivals

Dortmund remain dodgy on the road

RB Leipzig can get back to winning ways when they face a Borussia Dortmund side in the midst of a domestic downturn at Red Bull Arena on Saturday. Marco Rose’s men secured a 0-0 draw at Freiburg last weekend to remain in sixth place, but they are only a couple of points away from the Champions League places.

Dortmund’s focus appears to be solely on European football now after they lost touch with the top teams after a 1-0 home defeat to Augsburg last week. That led to head coach Niko Kovac telling a few home truths in an extended debrief at the training ground before he made several changes for their Champions League round of 16 clash in Lille on Wednesday.

The Black and Yellow won 2-1 in France to seal a place in the last eight and it probably makes sense for them to concentrate on another deep run in the competition.  Dortmund have lost seven of their last 11 Bundesliga away games, so their road struggles are nothing new. But the manner of their recent away losses to relegation-threatened Holstein Kiel and Bochum were totally unacceptable.

Sesko can have his say again

Leipzig’s home form has been up and down, while they have drawn far too many matches recently, but the performance level was fine at Freiburg. They came up against a solid side and an in-form goalkeeper, so there should be decent prospects of them scoring multiple goals when they face a much weaker Dortmund defence.

Benjamin Sesko remains the biggest threat for them, despite his two-game drought. He tends to score goals in bunches, so the fact that he drew blanks against Mainz and Freiburg might be a little off-putting here.

But he has scored in the last two Bundesliga meetings of these clubs while RB Leipzig’s home record of four straight wins in this fixture is another good reason to back the hosts.