#RBLB04: Countdown to kick-off

The match kicks off at 15.30 CET and will be refereed by Dr Robert Kampka. The doctor from Mainz is relatively new to the Bundesliga and this will be his seventh top-flight match in charge. Read on for the stats and facts on #RBLB04:

Short history

The history of previous meetings in short: Bayer 04 and RB Leipzig have only met in one previous competitive match and that was the reverse fixture this term. The game was certainly entertaining. Five goals were scored, the Werkself took the lead twice, Leipzig levelled twice and finally ran out 3-2 winners. That took the newly promoted team to the top of the Bundesliga for the first time.

Leipzig third-best newly promoted club

One thing is certain with 55 points from 27 games: RB Leipzig are the third best newly promoted club. In the whole history of the Bundesliga there are only two clubs made a better start after being promoted to the top flight. Record champions FC Bayern Munich are also record holders in this case – with (converted) 58 points they made the best in start in 1965/66 followed by FC Kaiserslautern who clocked up 57 points in their championship season of 1997/98, also better than RB.

Defensive problems after the winter break

RB Leipzig have built up good cushion to the teams below them and have a 15 point advantage over fifth place. Nevertheless, the first ten games in the second half of the season have revealed problems in the defence. Leipzig conceded 15 goals in these matches, which is as many as in the whole of the first half of the season.

Jule’s special month

April is Julian Brandt's favourite month – at least as far as scoring goals is concerned. He has scored more than half of his Bundesliga goals (ten out of 18) in April. It's a good job the month has just started with the Leipzig game followed by further challenges against Bayern Munich, Freiburg and Schalke. Enough opportunities for Jule to extend his impressive April statistics.

Kevin Volland on song

One player is proving popular with the fans at the moment. Kevin Volland is on a run under Tayfun Korkut as coach. He has been involved in five of the last eight goals scored by the Werkself (four goals, one assist. He went one better in Darmstadt on Wednesday night. For the first time in the Bundesliga at Bayer 04 he was involved in two goals (one goal, one assist).

Forsberg's great record

Emil Forsberg produced another outstanding performance in Leipzig’s last match against Mainz. The Swede extended his lead in the ranking of the best providers with his 12th and 13th assists and, for the fourth time, he laid on two goals in a game – no other player has managed that more than twice.

Birthday boy Karim

Head coach Tayfun Korkut celebrated his birthday a week ago against Wolfsburg and this weekend there is another Werkself birthday. Karim Bellarabi will be 27 in Leipzig on Saturday. The best present he could give himself would be a goal, following in the footsteps of Rudi Völler (1995 against Uerdingen), Ulf Kirsten (1999 against Werder Bremen), Hakan Calhanoglu (2015 against Werder Bremen) and Julian Brandt (2015 against Bayern Munich). Go for goal, Karim!

Live action via the LIVE App

The Bayer 04 live app, voted as one of the most innovative apps by a large app blog, is raring to go. You can download the app to follow the Werkself at  bit.ly/b04live