Preview: Saturday evening clash of in-form teams | OneFootball

Ahead of the meeting between Leipzig and Frankfurt, both teams have reasons to be confident. With a third of the season gone, the table could hardly be tighter.

The backdrop

Five places and five points separate Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt ahead of Matchday 13, with the Saxony side in second place and the Eagles in seventh. Both teams drew last time out: Leipzig were held 0-0 at Borussia Mönchengladbach and Frankfurt 1-1 at home to Wolfsburg. 

“We hoped for more and really wanted to win at home. In the end it’s a point and we focus on what’s ahead,” summarised Dino Toppmöller at the end of the post-match press conference on Sunday evening. 

Before that, when asked for his assessment of the first third of the 2025/26 season, he’d expressed the view that they are “in a decent position in the Bundesliga”, explaining: “It’s all very close in the table. We’re in touching distance, exactly where we wanted to be. I think we’ve established a good basis to have a successful Bundesliga campaign.” 

The Eagles face a big challenge to stay in touch in the primetime fixture on Saturday evening, against opponents who are back to their best with a solid defence. Kick-off in Leipzig is at 18:30 CET on Saturday 6 December. 

Form

Leaving aside the opening match of the season, when Leipzig lost 6-0 at FC Bayern Munich, Ole Werner’s side have conceded just seven goals since Matchday 2 and kept six clean sheets – both league highs. 

However, Frankfurt have plenty to shout about, too. The Eagles are unbeaten in six Bundesliga encounters, have only conceded seven goals in the process and are undefeated in their last four away outings. That confidence will be required in Leipzig more than ever, as the hosts have not only won their last five games at home but also only lost one of nine meetings with Eintracht on home turf. 

Stability under Werner

Werner was appointed Leipzig coach in summer 2025 and has injected stability as well as intensity into his team. They’ve won the most duels (1,276) and made the second-most sprints (2,115) in the German top flight. That’s been helped by the fact Leipzig aren’t playing in Europe this season, meaning rotation has been kept to a minimum. Thirteen changes to the starting line-up is by far the lowest number in the league. However, they are in action in the DFB Cup on Tuesday night against Bundesliga 2 outfit Magdeburg.

Saturday evening curse broken 

Eintracht have won their last two away matches at 18:30 – that’s as many as in the previous 21 attempts. This season in particular, evening fixtures have produced fireworks: the 4-3 win at Köln, the 3-0 defeat to Bayern, the 6-4 victory at Mönchengladbach and the penalty shootout drama in the cup against Borussia Dortmund. Toppmöller’s men are hoping for another spectacular success on Saturday in Leipzig.