Two of the Bundesliga's elite face off on Saturday afternoon as RB Leipzig hosts Borussia Monchengladbach at the Red Bull Arena.
Both sides come into this game after recent Champions League defeats to English teams in Budapest. Leipzig suffered a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool while Monchengladbach were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City. It is looking unlikely that either will progress beyond the round of 16, but that is where the similarities end.
Domestically, Leipzig are on fire and are now firmly in a title race with Bayern Munich. Last weekend's 3-0 victory over Hertha Berlin made it four wins in a row in the league while Bayern's 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt means the gap between the two sides is now only two points. The results are good, but the performances are even better as defenders Nordi Mukiele and Willi Orban have scored two in three while Christopher Nkunku is playing his best football so far this season.
As for Monchengladbach, their Champions League hopes continue to fade away after a dismal 2-1 defeat to Mainz last weekend. A late Kevin Stoger winner confined them to a fourth game without a win in the Bundesliga. Marco Rose's side then travelled to Budapest to face off with Manchester City, and even though they were massive underdogs, there was an impression that it was a very nothing performance with little attacking threat.
Team news
Leipzig - New signing Dominik Szoboszlai is still recovering from an adductor injury, while Konrad Laimer and Benjamin Henrichs are on their way back from long-term knee injuries. so it is unlikely they will be ready for the game on Saturday
Borussia Monchengladbach - Stefan Lainer will miss out against Leipzig while Jonas Hofmann and Christopher Kramer are doubts, which was confirmed by Marco Rose in his pre-match press conference.
Predicted lineups
Leipzig - Peter Gulasci; Lukas Klostermann, Willi Orban, Dayot Upamecano; Nordi Mukiele, Tyler Adams, Marcel Sabitzer, Angeliño; Dani Olmo, Christopher Nkunku; Alexander Sorloth
Borussia Monchengladbach - Yann Sommer; Valentino Lazaro, Nico Elvedi, Matthias Ginter, Oscar Wendt; Florian Neuhaus, Denis Zakaria; Marcus Thuram, Lars Stindl, Patrick Herrmann; Alassane Plea
Form guide
RB Leipzig - WWWLW - last game - 3-0 (W) vs Hertha Berlin
Borussia Monchengladbach - WLDLL - last game - 2-0 (L) vs Manchester City
Ones to watch
Leipzig - With Dayot Upamecano's impending departure to Bayern Munich, the focus is likely to switch to another French defender in Nordi Mukiele. Although Upamecano is very much a centre back, Mukiele can play across the defence, and in Julian Nagelsmann's system, the wing backs play a floating role. With Angeliño the starting LWB, Mukiele has shared the RWB spot with Tyler Adams, and while watching Leipzig you will sometimes see the wing backs almost playing as strikers. For example, Mukiele won a penalty against Augsburg after a surge down the middle a few weeks ago. Not only is the 23 year old winning penalties, but he is also scoring goals, with two in his last three including a screamer against Hertha Berlin.
Borussia Monchengladbach - Hannes Wolf has been mainly used as a substitute since joining on loan from Leipzig. However, earlier in the season, he scored the match winner against his parent club. Since that game in October, Wolf has only scored one more goal, with that coming in a 4-1 win over bottom club Schalke. However, despite the limited play time, an appearance based clause has been triggered in Wolf's contract that means he will join the club permanently in the summer. For the young Austrian, he will be hoping to make a similar impact against his former team in Leipzig once again on Saturday.
Previous meetings
Up until the meeting earlier in the season, Monchengladbach had never beaten Leipzig since their promotion in 2016, with Die Roten Bullen winning five of the previous eight fixtures with the three other games ending in draws.
Gladbach will now be looking for their first ever double against Leipzig.
Where to watch it on TV
The game will be broadcast live in the UK on BT Sport 1 at 17:30 GMT, while those in the United States will be able to watch the action unfold on ESPN+.
What have the managers said ?
Borussia Monchengladbach manager Marco Rose - "Julian Nagelsmann is doing a great job at Leipzig. They're consistently at a high level. It will be tough for us there, but playing them will be a very different kettle of fish to playing Man City."
Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl - "What Leipzig have built over the last years is incredible. Of course they're capable of winning the league, I already said that before this season. However, we will go to Leipzig with the aim of winning."