Sturm Graz vs. RB Leipzig preview: Team news and predicted lineups | OneFootball

RB Leipzig eye to close their European campaign with a win in Graz on Wednesday.  Die Roten Bullen lost six on the trot before the hard-fought win over Sporting CP last week. Their Austrian guests are also already out of the equation for the knockout rounds.

In contrast to their previous league game at Bochum, Marco Rose’s side came from two goals behind on the weekend to salvage a precious point against defending champions Bayer Leverkusen. After ending Leverkusen’s invincibility in the reverse fixture, this result halted the eight-game winning streak by Xabi Alonso’s side.

Due to his trophy-laden spell in RB Salzburg, Merkur Arena is a familiar surrounding for Rose. The Leipzig-born coach came out victorious in six of his nine outings against Sturm Graz, but The Blacks did deny him the chance to win all four major trophies during his time at Austria.

In a match that saw current Leipzig midfielders Xaver Schlager and Amadou Haidara featured for Salzburg, Sturm Graz beat Rose’s team in extra-time to lift the 2017-18 ÖFB-Cup. Fast forward to last season, Sturm ended Red Bull’s decade-long Bundesliga dominance as they won their first league title since 2011.

Despite losing their championship-winning coach Christian Ilzer to TSG Hoffenheim, they’re leading the race to repeat that feat. The exodus continues during this window as Mika Biereth, who scored half of their goals in their Champions League campaign, joined AS Monaco.

Before facing Austria Vienna in successive cup and Bundesliga fixtures, Jürgen Säumel’s side will aim for a memorable European night. As for Leipzig, this is only the second continental campaign where they failed to advance to the knockout stages. However, Rose might not be tempted to rotate his side considering their next four Bundesliga games will be against bottom-half sides.

Since Frenchman Castello Luekba is still working his way into full fitness, his compatriot El Chadaille Bitshiabu could start for the third game in a row for the first time in Leipzig colors. Eljif Elmas will be out as he nears a loan move to Torino. Meanwhile, Ridle Baku is ineligible for the game as winter signings can only be registered once the knockout stage starts in European competitions.

Click here to see our predicted RB Leipzig vs. Sturm Graz lineups.