Will the Leões break the RBL losing streak?

With two matchdays to go before the end of the first phase of the UEFA Champions League, RB Leipzig, of all teams, is one of only three teams, along with Slovan Bratislava and BSC Young Boys, that no longer has a mathematical chance of advancing. The Red Bulls are already out, and nothing would change that even if the tip for a home win by RB Leipzig against Sporting Lisbon pans out. The question of how seriously RBL will approach this home game in view of their thin personnel resources is therefore an exciting one.

Although Marco Rose recently insisted that they did not want to give anything away and were instead striving for an end to their losing streak in the premier league. But the fact is that Bayer Leverkusen will be coming to the Red Bull Arena on Saturday, which is the much more important game for the club in many respects. Not least for this reason, our prediction for the game between RB Leipzig and Sporting Lisbon is that the Portuguese champions will win away.

Sporting Lisbon, moreover, have recovered from the misunderstanding with Joao Pereira, who has already been sent out on loan again, under Rui Borges and regained first place in the Portuguese league. The Leões now want to fight back after two consecutive defeats in the Champions League. With ten out of a possible 18 points, they are currently only in 17th place in the league phase – room for improvement.

RB Leipzig – Statistics & current form

RB Leipzig remained without a title in the 2023/24 season after two cup wins in a row. Nevertheless, the Saxons qualified for the UEFA Champions League once again by finishing fourth in the final table, where they have reliably made it past the preliminary round in recent times.

However, with two matchdays remaining in the first-ever league phase of the premier class, the Red Bulls are already certain to be eliminated after six defeats from six completed games. In fact, RBL could now become only the second German team after Bayer Leverkusen in 2002/03 to lose seven Champions League games in a row.

Is the game against the Werkself casting its shadow ahead?

Marco Rose stated that the Saxons’ aim is to prevent this scenario from occurring.

In view of the fact that they are only in fifth place in the Bundesliga and that an extremely important home game against Bayer Leverkusen is coming up on Saturday, it is not to be expected that the Red Bulls will risk a healthy first eleven for the Bundesliga in this unimportant Champions League game.

Incidentally, the betting providers also see RBL as outsiders in their own stadium. Merkur Bets Germany offers odds of 2.93 for tip 1 for RB Leipzig against Sporting Lisbon.

RB Leipzig is too negligent with leads

Not only have there been two recent setbacks in the league against Stuttgart (1:2) and Bochum (3:3 after leading 3:0), but the personnel situation at Leipzig continues to be very tense, as a glance at the injury list shows.

Speaking of squandered leads: even a 1-0 lead should not be taken for granted by the Red Bulls. In the current Champions League season, RBL took the lead 1-0 in three of the six games, but lost all three games. This had only happened to the Saxons twice before in 25 Champions League games (20 wins, three draws)…

Sporting Lisbon – statistics & current form

Sporting Lisbon secured the Portuguese championship last summer under Rúben Amorim and thus also qualified for the Champions League, where they initially performed just as well as in the Portuguese league.

The Verde e brancos (in English: the green and whites) scored ten out of twelve possible points from the first four games in the league phase before the coach succumbed to the siren call of Manchester United and lost both games against Arsenal (1:5) and Bruges (1:2) under his temporary successor Joao Pereira. Mind you, this was after a brilliant 4-1 win against Manchester City in the last CL game under Amorim.

Will Rui Borges also lead Sporting Lisbon back to success in the CL?

Meanwhile, Rui Borges and his coaching team are in charge of the Leões, who are once again leading the way in the Portuguese league and also celebrated a successful dress rehearsal in the 3-0 win at Rio Ave on Saturday.

However, the coach, who was signed from Vitoria Guimaraes, now has to fight another curse: since Paulo Bento (2006), no Sporting coach has won their first Champions League game with the club. The last three coaches even started the premier competition with a defeat.

Sporting Lisbon with good performance at German clubs

And yet, the betting tip for an away win for the Verde e brancos at RB Leipzig against Sporting Lisbon is under a lucky star, especially since the Portuguese champions have always held their own in Germany recently. The Leões have won three of their last four Champions League away games against Bundesliga representatives, with just one defeat.

If life insurance Viktor Gyökeres, who broke all records in 2024 and scored an incredible 62 goals in 63 games for Sporting and the Swedish national team, continues to score at will, it is very likely that this streak will continue.

RB Leipzig – Sporting Lisbon Direct comparison / H2H record

There has never been an international competitive match between the two teams before. Therefore, there is no “head to head” data that could affect our prediction at RB Leipzig v Sporting Lisbon.

RB Leipzig – Sporting Lisbon Tip

The betting providers with a German license also see the guests in front, because across the board, the betting odds for RB Leipzig against Sporting Lisbon are in the direction of the Portuguese champions, who have sustainably overcome their low point under Rui Borges. Although RBL has the potential to hold out against it. The only question is what the Saxons will bet on the end of their losing streak in the premier class, given that they have already been eliminated. After all, it’s the Bundesliga against Leverkusen on Saturday that counts. With a thin squad, Marco Rose will have to keep an eye on the load control, despite all the talk of wanting to play for victory against the Leões.

Given this constellation, there is a lot to be said for the Verde e brancos taking the full three points from the Red Bull Arena after two defeats in a row and thus at least securing qualification for the playoffs. We are therefore backing the visitors.