Kicking off their quest for yet more silverware, holders RB Leipzig will begin their latest DFB-Pokal campaign at 2. Bundesliga side Wehen Wiesbaden on Wednesday evening.
Wehen Wiesbaden will be hoping for a bit of DFB-Pokal magic when they host RB Leipzig in the first round on Wednesday night. The match was postponed as Leipzig was facing Bayern Munich in the DFL-Supercup last month.
While RB Leipzig moved into the top-four of the Bundesliga standings with a narrow victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, their cup hosts currently occupy a far more modest 14th place in German football’s second tier after being promoted from the 3. Bundesliga last season.
Having won only two of their first seven league matches this term, averaging under one goal per game, Wiesbaden will surely head into their first-round tie with some fear of receiving a hammering.
Markus Kauczinski’s side comes into this game off the back of defeats to Paderborn and Elversberg. So, they have their fair share of work cut out to suppress the irresistible force of RB Leipzig’s attack.
RB Leipzig extended their winning run across all competitions to five matches when they secured a 1-0 away victory over Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend thanks to a Timo Werner match-winning goal.
Marco Rose’s side has been clicking in top gear during the early weeks of the campaign, scoring three or more goals in five of their seven matches in all competitions, including beating Bayern 3-0 to win the DFL-Supercup for the first time in their history.
Die Roten Bullen’s sole blemish in Rose’s first full season in charge was a 3-2 setback away to high-flying Bayer Leverkusen in their opening league encounter. After beating Stuttgart, Union Berlin, and Augsburg in the Bundesliga, they beat Swiss side Young Boys comfortably in their opening Champions League group-stage fixture last Tuesday, making a winning start in their Champions League Group G, which also includes reigning European champions Manchester City and Serbian outfit Red Star Belgrade.
With their attack firing on all cylinders, they will fancy their chances of becoming the first team in history to lift the DFB-Pokal three straight times, having defeated Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt in the competition’s most recent two finals.
Team News and Tactics
Wehen Wiesbaden
„Last des Bringens liegt erst einmal bei Leipzig“ – Hier sind der Vorbericht und die Pressekonferenz zum Pokalspiel gegen Titelverteidiger @RBLeipzig. 👇
🗞️ https://t.co/wOeqPfw33H
🎙️ https://t.co/20IPch9D4E#svww #dasWvereint #WIERBL pic.twitter.com/7Mc7uIlBXv— SV Wehen Wiesbaden (@SVWW_official) September 25, 2023
Wiesbaden boss Markus Kauczinski will be unable to call upon the services of Emanuel Taffertshofer and Keanan Bennetts due to muscle strains, with neither scheduled to return to training until before late October.
While Kauczinski will ideally not want to rotate much and select his strongest available side, with yet another relegation scrap in the offing, the league almost certainly takes priority for the home side, forcing the Wiesbaden manager to make changes at BRITA-Arena on Wednesday.
Midfielder Nick Batzner should return to the hosts’ starting XI, forming a midfield trio alongside Jacobsen and Lee, flanked by wing-backs Amar Catic and Lasse Gunther, who will likely drop back to help out the three-man defensive line marshalled by skipper Sascha Mockenhaupt.
Croatian striker Ivan Prtajin is Wehen’s top scorer so far this term, with two goals, and should partner Antonio Jonjic up front, while Franko Kovacevic offers an alternative attacking option from the bench.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Lyska; Vukotic, Mockenhaupt, Reinthaler; Catic, Batzner, Jacobsen, Lee, Gunther; Prtajin, Jonjic
RB Leipzig
RB Leipzig will be without Dani Olmo, Willi Orban, and El Chadaille Bitshiabu as they continue to recover from knee injuries, while midfielder Amadou Haidara is also out with a calf problem.
Ahead of an important league game against Bayern Munich at the weekend and a Champions League encounter against Manchester City after that, Marco Rose could be tempted to freshen up his starting lineup, with Benjamin Sesko likely to be rested after his action-packed start to life in Germany.
Timo Werner got onto the scoresheet and won the game for Leipzig after coming on as a substitute last time out. The Germany international could be rewarded with his only third start of the season, with Yussuf Poulsen joining forces up top.
ℹ️ Squad update:
Péter Gulácsi will start in Wednesday's DFB-Pokal clash against SV Wehen Wiesbaden 🧤#SVWWRBL pic.twitter.com/VozsUXFc6r
— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) September 26, 2023
Xavi Simons has made a bright start with Leipzig since joining on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, scoring three goals and providing four assists in his first four Bundesliga games. But the 20-year-old Dutchman is expected to be rested here, with Liverpool loanee Fabio Carvalho replacing him on the right flank after starting his first game for the club in midfield against Monchengladbach.
Peter Gulasci is the goalkeeper for RB Leipzig, and he should take his spot between the sticks. The visitors will line up in a Red Bull classic 4-2-2-2 formation in front of the Hungarian shot-stopper.
Lukas Klostermann and Elias Lenz should be the two full-backs. Tim Kohler and Castello Lukeba should form the central defensive unit, with Nicolas Seiwald and Christoph Baumgartner holding the fort in the engine room.
Probable Lineup (4-2-2-2): Gulasci; Klostermann, Kohler, Lukeba, Lenz; Seiwald, Baumgartner; Carvalho, Forsberg; Poulsen, Werner
Key Stats
- This will be the third meeting between the two sides. Wiesbaden and Leipzig won their respective home games 2-1 and 1-0 in the 2013/14 season when both sides were in the German third tier.
- Leipzig have won six of their seven games in all competitions this season and are currently on a five-game winning run.
- RB Leipzig have scored two or more goals in seven of their last eight matches.
- Wehen are winless in their last four games, losing three games in a row.
- Xavi Simons is averaging a goal or assist every 79.5 minutes across all competitions so far this season.
Player to Watch
Timo Werner
Having been cast aside — for now at least — by the national team with Euro 2024 on the horizon and his regular starter status at Leipzig in jeopardy, Werner is taking the high road. After starting a fifth successive game on the bench, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in more than five months with moments of supreme confidence and swagger.
Found by a typically surgical Xavi Simons pass, he skated around Monchengladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas before composing himself in the blink of an eye and smashing into the net from an unforgiving angle.
That, as the only goal of the game, was enough for Leipzig to take victory at Borussia Monchengladbach. It wasn’t the kind of goal you would expect from the 27-year-old. But he will need more of those clutch strikes to reclaim his starting spot under Marco Rose, and what better way to start than with an impressive finishing masterclass against a lower-tier opponent?
Prediction
Wehen Wiesbaden 0-3 RB Leipzig
Although RB Leipzig are in fearsome form ahead of their trip to Wiesbaden, a tough league fixture coming up at the weekend means they may not go at full tilt in the DFB-Pokal. Even a much-changed team will have far too much quality for their hosts to withstand, though, and a place in the second round surely awaits.
