RB Leipzig host Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The visitors would move top of the table with a victory, while the hosts have only picked up five points from their first five matches, leading to them making a change in the managerial dugout.
After a disastrous start to the season was compounded by a 4-1 drubbing at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League in midweek, Leipzig made the move to sack Domenico Tedesco on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old enjoyed a decent debut season for Leipzig last time out, consolidating their place in the top four, before winning their first ever major trophy when they defeated Freiburg on penalties in the DFB-Pokal final.
However, that historic success did not earn him as much time as many felt it may after a slow start this season, with the nature of their last two defeats seemingly too much for the Red Bull ownership group to put up with.
Having been thumped 4-0 away to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend, Leipzig’s defence was routinely sliced open once again by Shakhtar on Tuesday, with Mohamed Simakan’s second-half equaliser keeping Leipzig level for less than one minute as Marian Shved went up the other end and bagged a brace to restore the Ukrainian side’s lead.
The defensive collapse on show at Red Bull Arena was not testament to a group of players still fighting for their manager, making Wednesday’s sacking an unsurprising development in the end.
With Marco Rose’s appointment as Tedesco’s successor confirmed on Thursday, Die Roten Bullen’s players will be desperate to impress their new manager and avoid a third successive loss as Rose faces a showdown against his former club in his first game in charge of his boyhood team.
Dortmund, on the other hand, look like they mean business with Edin Terzic back at the helm, having moved to replace Rose with their former interim boss during the summer.
Barring the disastrous late collapse at home to Werder Bremen, when they squandered a two-goal lead with only one minute of normal play remaining to lose 3-2, it has been a faultless start from BVB, who have won each of their other four league games to sit level on points with Freiburg at the top of the Bundesliga heading into the weekend.
Marco Reus’s early strike proved enough to beat Hoffenheim at Westfalenstadion last time out, although in truth they should have added to their tally in what was an utterly dominant display. Reus opened the scoring in midweek, too, as Terzic’s side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against FC Copenhagen to kick-off their Champions League campaign in style.
Jude Bellingham got himself on the scoresheet for the first time this season during the win against the Danes; having taken 13 shots across his five league games without scoring, the England midfielder will be hoping to open his Bundesliga account as quickly as possible, even if his performances continue to be at a remarkably high level for a player who is still in his tender years.
Having seen fast starts fizzle out into nothingness on countless occasions in recent seasons, Dortmund fans will be keeping their feet on the ground at this early stage of the season.
However, all they can do is take one game at a time and ensure that they keep ahead of Bayern before the two sides meet at the Westfalenstadion next month; a win against their former boss on Saturday would not only ensure that objective remains on track for another week, but also surely taste even sweeter than usual given that they lost to Leipzig in both league meetings last season.
RB Leipzig Bundesliga form:
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RB Leipzig form (all competitions):
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Borussia Dortmund Bundesliga form:
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Borussia Dortmund form (all competitions):
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We say: RB Leipzig 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund’s injuries could make this match closer than expected, especially with Leipzig’s players likely to be keen to impress their new manager.
We can envisage goals and a potential share of the spoils, with there likely to be an extra edge in the match given Terzic’s and Rose’s history together at Dortmund.