Both preparing for Champions League campaigns, RB Leipzig and Aston Villa will face off at New Jersey's Red Bull Arena during a pre-season friendly on Wednesday night.
A New Jersey crowd will be treated to a match between two sides who were amongst the best in the Bundesliga and the Premier League during the 2023-24 term.
Match preview
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Since earning promotion from the second tier of German football during the 2015-16 season, RB Leipzig have cemented themselves as part of the furniture in the upper echelons of the Bundesliga rankings, and the class of 2023-24 qualified for the Champions League once again.
Die Roten Bullen finished fourth overall in the top-flight standings after collecting 65 points from 34 Bundesliga contests, 18 points clear of sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who were forced to settle for a place in the Europa League after failing to catch Champions League-finalists Borussia Dortmund in fifth.
Next on the priority list for RB Leipzig will be to seriously contend at the very summit of the first tier in Germany, with their second-placed finish of 2020-21 - 13 points behind runaway winners Bayern Munich - the closest the Leipzig club have got to lifting the German title.
Finding the net on 24 occasions and providing seven assists in just 34 Bundesliga matches last term, Lois Openda was the main goalscoring threat for Die Roten Bullen, who are desperately aiming to keep hold of their first-team stars before the end of the summer transfer window.
After testing themselves against West Midlands duo Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers, RB Leipzig will face French giants Paris Saint-Germain in a warm-up match before competitive action starts on August 17, when Marco Rose's troops travel to RW Essen in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
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Following a decade of circling the Premier League plughole and relegation to the Championship in the 2010s, Aston Villa will return to the highest European stage this season following an excellent 2023-24 Premier League campaign under the expert leadership of Unai Emery.
The former Arsenal head coach threatened to guide his Villans through an unlikely title charge last term, although Manchester City, the Gunners and Liverpool moved away in the second half of the term, leaving the Second City club the task of holding fourth place in the English top flight.
Back in UEFA's elite club competition for the first time in a decade, Villa's pre-season schedule so far has been reflective of a club looking to draw in a wider audience, with Emery's side travelling to Slovakia to face Spartak Trnava on July 20 before facing Columbus Crew in the United States on the weekend.
Crew striker Juan Hernandez ran the show against the Villans, firing in a first-half hat-trick to all-but seal the pre-season victory, with Cameron Archer bagging the visitors' only goal of the contest.
Villa have been very active in the summer window over the past week, signing Belgium international Amadou Onana from Everton for a fee in the region of £50m.
Team News
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RB Leipzig will be without the services of midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, who is set to miss the entire United States tour in order to undergo surgery on a knee injury.
Die Roten Bullen will be able to call upon the talents of Xavi Simons in this pre-season, though, with the Netherlands international reportedly turning down Bayern Munich in order to remain at the Red Bull Arena.
Aston Villa welcomed Emiliano Buendia back to the squad after a serious injury last time out, and the Argentine could be in line for more minutes here.
Morgan Rodgers has featured heavily for the Villans so far in pre-season, finding the net in both of the wins over Walsall and Spartak Trnava.
Following his excellent term at Premier League underdogs Luton Town, Ross Barkley is back at Villa Park and looking to stake a claim in Emery's first XI.
RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:
Zingerie; Klostermann, Orban, Lukeba, Henrichs; Elmas, Haidara, Seiwald, Simons; Openda, Sesko
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Gauci; Nedeljkovic, Feeney, Pau, Moreno; Barrenechea, Barkley, Iling-Jr; Rogers, Archer, Bailey
We say: RB Leipzig 2-1 Aston Villa
Although not playing at their Red Bull Arena, RB Leipzig should feel at home as they face off against Champions League opposition on Wednesday night.
A weak Villa side struggled against Columbus last time out, and we believe that Unai Emery's side will suffer their second defeat of pre-season in New Jersey.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
