A pre-season heavyweight showdown will take place at the Red Bull Arena on Thursday, as RB Leipzig take on Liverpool in a friendly match.
Die Rotten Bullen got the better of Southampton 3-1 last time out, while Jurgen Klopp’s side picked up their first win of pre-season against Crystal Palace.
The Domenico Tedesco revival at RB Leipzig build up to a DFB-Pokal victory for Die Roten Bullen last season, and the Bundesliga giants already have reason to celebrate before the new season has even began.
Xaver Schlager has been the hosts’ outstanding acquisition so far, joining from Wolfsburg, while Tyler Adams and Hwang Hee-chan have both departed from the club on permanent deals, heading to Leeds United and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.
Brian Brobbey and Konrad Laimer will seemingly be the next to exit amid rumours of moves to Ajax and Bayern Munich respectively, but the duo at least managed to play a part in the recent friendly win over Southampton.
Rb Leipzig will conclude their pre-season preparations against Liverpool before taking part in the German Super Cup with Bayern Munich on July 30.
Manchester United revenged against the Reds by putting four unanswered goals past Liverpool’s second-string side in Bangkok, but a more familiar looking Reds XI managed to defeat Crystal Palace in Singapore.
Red Bull Salzburg await Liverpool at their own Red Bull Arena in Austria later this month, before Ligue 1 side Strasbourg visit Anfield on July 31, a day after Klopp leads his side out for the Community Shield against Manchester City.
Liverpool and Leipzig previously met in the last-16 of the 2020-21 Champions League, where Klopp’s side eased to a 4-0 aggregate victory to progress to the quarter-finals, with Salah and Sadio Mane – soon to be a familiar foe of Die Roten Bullen’s – both scoring two goals each.
RB Leipzig vs Liverpool head to head
The two teams have previously met on just two occasions in the Champions League back in 2021, where Liverpool won both contests, scoring four goals and keeping clean sheets in the process. They now meet for the first time in a friendly match.
RB Leipzig 0-2 Liverpool 16/02/21
Liverpool 2-0 RB Leipzig 10/03/21
RB Leipzig latest home form
RB Leipzig have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Southampton 3-1 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored 11 goals and conceded four.
RB Leipzig 2-1 Union Berlin 20/04/22
RB Leipzig 1-2 Union Berlin 23/04/22
RB Leipzig 1-0 Rangers 28/04/22
RB Leipzig 4-0 Ausburg 08/05/22
RB Leipzig 3-1 Southampton 16/07/22
RB Leipzig latest away form
RB Leipzig have recently kept a mixed run of form on the road, having won just two of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Freiburg through penalties in their last away game in the DFB-Pokal. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded eight.
Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 RB Leipzig 17/04/22
Borussia M’gladbach 3-1 RB Leipzig 02/05/22
Rangers 3-1 RB Leipzig 05/05/22
Arminia Bielefeld 1-1 RB Leipzig 14/05/22
Freiburg 1-1(P) RB Leipzig 21/05/22
Liverpool latest home form
Liverpool have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They managed to defeat Crystal Palace 2-0 in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored eight goals and conceded three.
Liverpool 2-0 Villarreal 27/04/22
Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur 07/05/22
Liverpool 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 22/05/22
Liverpool 0-1 Real Madrid 28/05/22
Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace 15/07/22
Liverpool latest away form
Liverpool lost their last away game 4-0 to Manchester United in a friendly. However, they have recently been on a good run of form on the road, and have won each of the previous six matches. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded eight.
Villarreal 2-3 Liverpool 03/05/22
Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool 10/05/22
Chelsea 0-0(P) Liverpool 14/05/22
Southampton 1-2 Liverpool 17/05/22
Manchester United 4-0 Liverpool 12/07/22
RB Leipzig news
Tedesco will be working without defender Josko Gvardiol until the start of the Bundesliga campaign due to a thigh injury, which he recently underwent surgery for.
Striker Yussuf Poulsen is also on his way to a comeback after suffering a muscular injury with Denmark, while Ademola Lookman is also a doubt.
Liverpool news
Diogo Jota has suffered a recurrence of a previous hamstring injury he sustained while on duti with Portugal, while Allison Becker will be unavailable due to an abdominal issue.
Joe Gomez is now back in training, while Ramsay, Kaide Gordon and Caoimhin Kelleher are unlikely to be risked just yet.
Prediction and Odds
Pre-season matches have always been tricky to predict their outcome, but goals ought to come from either side at the Red Bull Arena.
Both teams should feel confident about finding the back of the net on Thursday, and we can envision the sides settling for a share of the spoils.
Odds: 1 2.26 X 2.05 2 2.15
Probable outcomes
RB Leipzig 1-1 Liverpool
RB Leipzig 2-2 Liverpool
RB Leipzig 3-3 Liverpool
RB Leipzig 1-2 Liverpool
RB Leipzig 2-3 Liverpool
