RB Leipzig vs Aston Villa: Preview, predictions and lineups
Aston Villa travel to New Jersey for the second leg of their pre-season tour of the United States as they face RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena.
Having enjoyed a pair of serene domestic outings to begin their summer, Villa were put to the sword by Columbus Crew forward Cucho Hernandez in their first friendly out in the States. Hernandez scored a first-half hat-trick for the MLS outfit in a 4-1 victory.
Unai Emery used the extremities of his touring squad last time out against a fine MLS side in mid-season form. Next up for Villa is a RB Leipzig side that are yet to feature this summer and will be playing their first pre-season game on Wednesday evening.
Marco Rose oversaw a fairly impressive 2023/24 season in Saxony with Leipzig securing a fourth-place finish in the Bundesliga to earn a Champions League berth for 2024/25. Rose has a dynamic squad at his disposal and the German club’s brightest stars are expected to feature against Villa.
Here is 90min’s guide to Aston Villa’s upcoming pre-season friendly.
RB Leipzig vs Aston Villa H2H Record (All Time)
Current form (all competitions)
|
RB Leipzig |
Aston Villa |
|---|---|
|
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 RB Leipzig – 18/05/24 |
Columbus Crew 4-1 Aston Villa – 28/07/24 |
|
RB Leipzig 1-1 Werder Bremen – 11/05/24 |
Spartak Trnava 0-3 Aston Villa – 20/07/24 |
|
Hoffenheim 1-1 RB Leipzig – 03/05/24 |
Walsall 0-3 Aston Villa – 17/07/24 |
|
RB Leipzig 4-1 Borussia Dortmund – 27/04/24 |
Crystal Palace 5-0 Aston Villa – 19/05/24 |
|
Heidenheim 1-2 RB Leipzig – 20/04/24 |
Aston Villa 3-3 Liverpool – 13/05/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel / live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Villa TV (subscription required) |
|
United States |
Paramount+, ViX, CBS Sports Golazo, Villa TV (subscription required) |
|
Canada |
Villa TV (subscription required) |
Leipzig will once again be able to call upon the services of Xavi Simons in 2024/25 and the Dutchman should feature at some point out in the States.
Rose does not have Austrian playmaker Christoph Baumgartner at his disposal after he underwent knee surgery following Euro 2024. Baumgartner joins compatriot Xaver Schlager on the sidelines with the former Wolfsburg midfielder recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear.
Benjamin Sesko should start Wednesday evening’s friendly up top having penned a contract extension with the German club earlier this summer.
RB Leipzig predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-4-2): Zingerie; Klostermann, Orban, Lukeba, Henrichs; Elmas, Haidara, Seiwald, Simons; Openda, Sesko.
Emiliano Buendia made his first appearance in 11 months on Saturday night during Villa’s emphatic defeat to the Columbus Crew. The creative midfielder could be in line for a start against Leipzig.
Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen also made second-half appearances last time out, with the former providing some much-needed midfield security. Onana will likely start in New Jersey.
Emery used 22 players in Ohio and will continue to experiment on Wednesday night. Striker Cameron Archer has impressed this summer and was on the scoresheet last time out.
Emiliano Martinez, Ollie Watkins, Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara are among the Villa stars that haven’t travelled.
Aston Villa predicted lineup vs RB Leipzig (4-3-3): Gauci; Nedeljkovic, Feeney, Torres, Maatsen; Barrenechea, Onana, Iling-Jr; Rogers, Archer, Bailey.
Villa endured a rather chastening outing to kick off their US tour, but they’ll benefit from playing an undercooked Leipzig in New Jersey.
Emery will once again rotate heavily with the club’s new arrivals poised to play leading roles. This is a crucial period for the Spaniard’s squad ahead of a mightily exciting 2024/25 campaign and this Villa team should improve as the tour progresses.
The Premier League side are facing a talented Leipzig team with most of their key players available, but their absence of pre-season action should hand Villa the advantage.