Overview
Sporting are slowly finding their form after a slump following the departure of coach Ruben Amorim. After a run of four consecutive defeats, they have won five and drawn three of their next eight games.
Main striker Viktor Gyokeres has also gradually regained his killer instinct, scoring 5 goals in the last 4 matches. Although he has not been able to return to his peak form as at the beginning of the season, Gyokeres' performance is still the key to Sporting's revival.
In the Champions League, Sporting have lost both of their last two matches. This result has seen them drop from the top 8 to 17th place in the rankings and are only 3 points away from the elimination group. Therefore, Sporting need to win both of their remaining matches to decide their chances of advancing. Luckily for Sporting, their next opponent is Leipzig, a team that has run out of goals in this year's Champions League.
Leipzig are currently ranked 5th in the Bundesliga and remain the top team in Germany. In their last 5 matches, Leipzig have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 2. Both of Leipzig's defeats came against the teams above them, Bayern Munich and Stuttgart.
In the Champions League, Leipzig's form could not be worse. They have lost all 6 of their last matches and have no chance of advancing. With the Bundesliga race being tense, the goal of coach Marco Rose's team will be to compete in the domestic league.
The remaining two Champions League matches are just formalities for Leipzig and they will take advantage of this to rotate their squad. Therefore, even though they have to play away, Sporting are likely to win.
The two teams have never met in an official tournament before.
Human resources situation
RB Leipzig will be without Xaver Schlager, Castello Lukeba and Andre Silva due to injury.
On the other side of the front line, Pedro Goncalves is the only absent player for Sporting.
Expected lineup:
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Geertruida, Orban, Klostermann, Baku, Vermeeren, Seiwald, Raum, Simons, Openda, Sesko.
Sporting Lisbon: Rui Silva, Fresneda, Diomande, St Juste, Quenda, Catamo, Morita, Hjulmand, Trincao, Gyokeres, Araujo.
The match between Leipzig and Sporting takes place at 0:45 am on January 23 (Vietnam time).
