Second place takes on fourth in the Bundesliga on Sunday as RB Leipzig entertain Eintracht Frankfurt.
Leipzig are on an impressive six match winning run as they look to keep pace with league leaders Bayern Munich, while Frankfurt are aiming to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
Match preview
Despite being unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League by Liverpool in a 4-0 aggregate defeat, matters are going very well for Leipzig domestically.
Julian Nagelsmann has guided his side to the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal, while six wins in a row has seen them move to within two points of Bayern at the top of the table as they look to secure the club's first ever Bundesliga title.
Die Roten Bullen gave a decent Freiburg side a footballing lesson last weekend, with superb team moves finished by Christopher Nkunku and Alexander Sorloth either side of half time, before Emil Forsberg's powerful strike from outside of the area wrapped up a significant victory, which moved them top of the table for a few hours until Bayern's remarkable comeback against Borussia Dortmund a few hours later.
Nagelsmann certainly appears to be prioritising domestic success this season, with the 33-year-old's side playing with an unusual lack of intensity across both legs against Liverpool.
Ultimately, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah's pace and quality in front of goal proved too much for his defence to deal with, but should Leipzig win the Bundesliga and/or domestic cup for the first time in the club's history this season, both defeats to the English champions will be long forgotten.
After taking 28 points from a possible 30, including an impressive win against Bayern, Frankfurt have hit the buffers a little in recent weeks, with their surprising defeat at Werder Bremen followed up by a 1-1 draw at home to Stuttgart last weekend.
Filip Kostic was in fine form throughout the affair once again, though, with the winger setting up Andre Silva for another golden opportunity in trademark fashion, but the Portugal striker was guilty of a moment of rare nonchalance in front of goal by attempting to backheel his finish.
Kostic showed his teammate how it was done with a fine finish across goal, but saw his effort disallowed after Luka Jovic was narrowly offside in the build-up. Sasa Kalajdzic scored for a sixth straight game against the run of the play, with his effort deflecting off Martin Hinteregger and past a helpless Kevin Trapp, before Kostic scored almost a carbon copy of his disallowed effort to snatch a deserved point for Frankfurt.
Indeed, Adi Hutter's side were unfortunate not to win on the balance of play, with the 51-year-old hoping his side's performance levels continue to remain at a high level ahead of four consecutive fixtures against sides within the top seven places in the table, as they look to cling on to a top-four position.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
Team News
Leipzig missed the attacking thrust of wing-back Angelino during the defeat to Liverpool, with the Spaniard likely to miss out once again with a muscle injury.
Dominik Szoboszlai is still sidelined with the groin injury which has prevented him making his debut since joining from Red Bull Salzburg in January, while Konrad Laimer's return from a knee injury is unlikely to occur until after the international break.
Frankfurt, meanwhile, will travel without Almamy Toure due to a pelvis injury.
Daichi Kamada and Tuta are suffering with back and buttocks issues respectively, but could play through the pain given the magnitude of the match.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Gulacsi; Mukiele, Upamecano, Orban; Adams, Sabitzer, Kampl, Haidara; Olmo, Nkunku; Sorloth
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Tuta, Hinteregger, N'Dicka; Durm, Sow, Hasebe, Kostic; Kamada, Younes; Silva
We say: RB Leipzig 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
We can envisage a highly intriguing encounter on Sunday, with both teams scoring a strong likelihood despite Leipzig possessing the best defensive record in the league so far this season.
Leipzig are certainly heading into the game in stronger form, though, with Frankfurt showing signs in recent weeks that their unbelievable run may be coming to an end. Nagelsmann's side may just edge it to keep themselves firmly in the title picture.
Top tip
body check tags ::
