Mainz v RB Leipzig: Bundesliga – live! | Football

Mainz (3-4-2-1) Muller; Bruma, St. Juste, Niakhate; Baku, Kunde, Fernandes, Martin; Boetius, Quaison; Onisiwo.
Substitutes Dahmen, Latza, Oztunali, Mateta, Ji, Brosinski, Awoniyi, Barreiro, Hack.

Leipzig (3-1-4-2) Gulacsi; Klostermann, Upamecano, Halstenberg; Laimer; Sabitzer, Kampl, Nkunku, Olmo; Werner, Poulsen.
Substitutes Mvogo, Angelino, Orban, Haidara, Adams, Lookman, Wolf, Schick, Mukiele.

Hello. At the end of January, RB Leipzig were top of the table and dreaming of winning the Bundesliga for the first time in their short history. They are unbeaten since then, yet have dropped down to fifth in the table. Leipzig are a case study in the dangers of the draw, with five in their last seven games. You don’t need to be a descendant of Pythagoras to know that means they’ve dropped ten points.

While it looks like a textbook case of an outsider title challenge fading away, that’s not necessarily the case. All five draws were against teams in the top seven, including an excellent away point at Bayern Munich. It means that Leipzig have a really favourable run-in.

A win today against Mainz – who they walloped 8-0 in the return fixture in November – would move them back up to third, seven points behind the leaders Bayern Munich. That’s a big gap with only seven games to play and Bayern in such blistering form. But Bayern have some tough games to come, including trips to Dortmund, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg.

Leipzig aren’t out of the title race yet. But they will be acutely aware that this is a must-must-must-win game.

Kick off 2.30pm BST, 3.30pm CET.