RB Leipzig midfielder Marcel Sabitzer has been ruled out of action for around three weeks after suffering a lateral ankle ligament tear during the recent 1-0 triumph over VfL Wolfsburg at the Volkswagen Arena on Sunday evening.

The game saw Swedish star Emil Frosberg score a winner in the 70th minute to hand Ralph Hasenhüttl's men their fourth Bundesliga win, also helping them extend their unbeaten run to seven games.

Set to return next month

The 22-year-old underwent an MRI scan in Leipzig after the win at the Volkswagen Arena, which revealed that the Austrian had suffered a tear in his lateral ligament of the right ankle, as it was feared when the injury transpired.

The injury was a result of a tackle by Wolfsburg left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, forcing Sabitzer into being substituted as early as in the 15th minute of the game and spend the rest of the game away from action.

Sabitzer will not, as a result, feature for the Die Roten in the next three games, that see Hasenhüttl's men take on Alexander Nouri's Werder Bremen at home, Norbert Meier's Darmstadt away from home and Mainz at the Red Bull Arena. He is expected to be back fit for the tough-looking trip to Bayer Leverkusen on 18th November, right after the international break ends.

There are doubts about whether he'll be fit enough to play for Austria during the international break or not.

One of the best performers this season

Sabitzer, who joined Leipzig in 2014 and is used as an attacking midfielder predominantly alongside Frosberg in a narrow 4-2-2-2 formation, has scored once and assisted twice this season. The midfielder had been a vital cog in Leipzig's wheel last season and had scored eight times in all competitions during their impressive promotion campaign.

The injury to Sabitzer allows new signing from Nottingham Forest, Oliver Burke and captain Dominik Kaiser to stake their claim to a spot in the side.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Kaustubh Pandey
A 19-year-old football writer. Currently write for CalcioMercato, OutsideOftheBoot, ForzaItalianFootball, BackPageFootball, EPLIndex, Sportscafe and many other websites.