Fixtures
- RB Leipzig Vs. Aston Villa – Tue, Dec 10th 2024, 20:00
Aston Villa look to return to winning ways in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, visiting RB Leipzig on Matchday Six of the league phase (ko 8pm GMT).
The Villans will be hoping to break back into the top eight, after a goalless draw at home to Coppa Italia champions Juventus in their last outing in the competition two weeks ago.
Unai Emery’s side go in search of their third-consecutive win in all competitions in Germany, after successive home Premier League triumphs over Brentford and Southampton over the past six days.
Having first qualified for the Champions League in 2017, RB Leipzig have turned out in Europe’s elite competition in each of the past five seasons, reaching the semi-finals in 2019/20 before losing to eventual runners up PSG.
Marco Rose’s side enter this clash third bottom of the Champions League table, having lost each of their opening five outings in the competition this season.
After a strong start to the campaign domestically, Die Roten Bullen sit fourth in the Bundesliga after 13 outings, three points clear of fifth place and three points away from second.
This will be the first competitive meeting between the two sides in history, after the German outfit prevailed 2-0 in a 2024/25 pre-season clash in New Jersey.
Stats
Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers is one of only five players to have completed 10+ dribbles (18) and created 10+ chances from open play (10) in the UEFA Champions League this season, along with Vinícius Júnior, Florian Wirtz, Savinho, and Johan Bakayoko.
Benjamin Šeško has scored three of RB Leipzig’s four goals in the UEFA Champions League this season. Among teams to have netted more than once, Sesko has accounted for a higher percentage of his team’s goals than any other player in 2024-25 (75%).
Jhon Durán is Aston Villa’s top scorer in the UEFA Champions League this season (two goals), while no player has attempted more shots for them (9). This is despite the Colombian only being on the pitch for 35% of Villa’s match time in the competition this season (159/450 minutes).
Aston Villa are the team with the highest percentage of their total passes being line-breaking passes in the UEFA Champions League this season (15.9%). Indeed, only two sides have made more line-breaking passes from their own half than Villa (211) this term: Bayer Leverkusen (241) and Juventus (216).
RB Leipzig have averaged 386 high-intensity pressures per game in the UEFA Champions League this season; the second-most of any team in the tournament, only behind Sturm Graz (392.4). Meanwhile, Aston Villa rank 33rd out of 36 teams for high-intensity pressures per game in the competition this term (265.8).
German teams have lost all three of their matches against English sides in the UEFA Champions League this season, all without scoring a goal: Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig 0-1 Liverpool and Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen.
After winning their first three UEFA Champions League games of 2024/25, Aston Villa have failed to win their last two (D1 L1). The last time Unai Emery failed to win three consecutive group/league phase games with a single club in the competition was in September-November 2015 with Sevilla (4).
RB Leipzig have lost each of their last five UEFA Champions League matches, all of which have been this season. If they lose here, it will be their longest ever losing streak in the competition, and the longest by a German side overall since Bayer Leverkusen in March 2003 (7).
This will be Aston Villa’s first away game against a German opponent in Europe since December 2008, in a 1-3 defeat to Hamburg in the UEFA Cup. Meanwhile, their last one in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League was in October 1981, in a 2-1 victory over Berliner FC Dynamo.
RB Leipzig and Aston Villa have never previously faced each other in Europe. However, the German side have lost each of their last four matches against English sides in the UEFA Champions League, while conceding 14 goals in those four games.
Matchday Five
RB Leipzig fell to a fifth-straight Champions League defeat in their last outing on November 26, with a 1-0 defeat in Milan at the hands of Inter.
Despite the hosts dominating large parts of the game, it was an own goal which sealed the points for the Nerazzurri, continuing their unbeaten start and lifting them to second in the league phase.
Federico Dimarco’s wicked free-kick into the box on 27 minutes flicked off the leg of Leipzig’s Castello Lukeba and into the back of the net to ensure Simone Inzaghi’s side would be victorious.
Team News
Unai Emery revealed in his pre-match press conference that Leon Bailey would miss the clash with a “small injury”.
Amadou Onana will be looking for a first appearance back from injury having made the bench against Southampton at the weekend, though Jacob Ramsey remains sidelined.
Leipzig are currently nursing a lengthy injury list, with no less than seven first team players out of action.
Castello Lukeba picked up a muscle injury in the Bundesliga earlier this month, and will be missing for the clash. Assan Ouédraogo (thigh), Xavi Simons (ankle), David Raum (ankle), Yussuf Poulsen (thigh), El Chadaille Bitshiabu (muscle) and Eljif Elmas (hamstring) all remain longer-term absentees.
Managers’ Pre-Match Thoughts
“It’s very difficult against Leipzig, who were contenders at the beginning of the competition more than us to be in the top eight or top 24. They’ve had a really hard schedule, playing against a lot of very good teams. It’s very important because we can feel we’re close to the next round, but we have the opportunity to be in the top eight.” – Unai Emery
“Aston Villa are a very well organised team who operate based around pre-planned scenarios. It is impressive, the structure that they play with. That does make the preparation for the game simpler, since you know what to expect. There is a lot of pace and quality in their ranks and they threaten from set-pieces.” – Marco Rose
