Wehen Wiesbaden will be looking to cause an upset when they host RB Leipzig in the DFB Pokal on Wednesday. The match was postponed as Leipzig was facing Bayern Munich in the Super Cup last month.
Preview (Wehen Wiesbaden vs. RB Leipzig)
With eight points from seven games, Wiesbaden has had a respectable start to their first season back in Bundesliga 2. The Hesse-based team, defeated Arminia Bielefeld 6-1 on aggregate to win promotion via the play-offs. They will be looking for a stronger performance than their most recent campaign at their present level. It saw them suffer immediate relegation in 2019–20. In fact, they have only played at the second tier of German football four times in their history.
Whether that would put them in a good position to defeat the two-time defending German Cup champions Leipzig remains to be seen, but any victory would be hailed as a huge bonus given that survival will be their main goal between now and May 2024. Leipzig will bet on their prospects of making history by winning the DFB-Pokal three times in a row. They defeated Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt in the last two competition finals. Early on in the season, Marco Rose’s team played well. They won six of their seven games across all competitions. It included a 3-0 victory over Bayern to claim the DFL Supercup for the first time.
The only blemish on Die Roten Bullen’s record is a 3-2 loss away to high-flying Bayer Leverkusen. Their 1-0 triumph away to Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday marked their fifth straight victory. They have two significant tests coming up when they face Bayern and Manchester City in the Bundesliga and Champions League. They will be very confident of moving through to the second round of the cup when they arrive in Wiesbaden.
Team News
Due to muscular problems, Emanuel Taffertshofer and Keanen Bennetts won’t be available for Wiesbaden until a variety of periods in October. At BRITA-Arena on Wednesday, Kauczinski may make changes because avoiding yet another relegation from the second division is almost surely the hosts’ top objective. As a result, Nick Batzner should make his way back into the starting lineup for the hosts. Ahead of future vital matches against Bayern and Man City, Rose is also unlikely to risk any key players right away, with Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko set to receive a break after starting together at the weekend.
Goalkeeper Peter Gulasci might make his return to action after a protracted ACL injury. Due to individual injury concerns, Olmo, Willi Orban, Amadou Haidara, and El Chadaille Bitshiabu are all anticipated to be sidelined. We anticipate that this match will be played out in Wiesbaden in a rather open, free-flowing manner given the amount of adjustments that both managers are expected to make for this match. The visitors should have more than enough attacking firepower to escape defeat, keeping their ambitions of creating German Cup history alive for another round, even though their lack of defensive depth and star quality in that area of the field could occasionally leave them vulnerable.
Wehen Wiesbaden 1 – 3 RB Leipzig
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