RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose will hope to keep up his side's winning momentum and save his job on Saturday when his team travel to face Holstein Kiel at Holstein-Stadion in their 13th Bundesliga match of their 2024-25 campaign.

Match preview

Holstein Kiel will perhaps feel they should have taken at least a point against St Pauli considering they missed a 45th-minute penalty in the first half when their opponents were only winning 1-0.

The Storks' position in the table is alarming, with the club occupying one of two automatic relegation spots, and they are already five points from 15th-placed St Pauli, who are the first team outside both the automatic relegation zone and relegation playoff spot.

Though boss Marcel Rapp's team are not among the three worst offensive side's in the top flight having scored 13 times, they still hold the division's second-worst defensive record having conceded on 31 occasions.

Rapp's team are in poor form, with the club losing their last three games, as well as three of the prior four.

While Holstein Kiel have at least won one of their three most recent home matches, they have been beaten in five of their six home fixtures this season.

Meanwhile, the visitors' victory against Eintracht Frankfurt would have come as welcome relief to Rose, who experienced a win in the dugout for the first time in seven games.

Rose has come under significant pressure in recent weeks, with the club having lost five and drawn one of the prior six matches to the win against the Eagles.

Die Roten Bullen have been especially poor defensively in that period considering they conceded 15 times in that winless streak, including five against Wolfsburg in a 5-1 Bundesliga defeat on November 30.

Following the win against the Eagles, Rose was defiant, saying: "Maybe no one believed that we could still do it. If your back is against the wall, then there's only one direction. And luckily we found it today."

Leipzig have lost their four most recent away outings by a cumulative score of 10-5, although while they have lost their last two Bundesliga matches on the road, they were unbeaten in the previous 10 having won seven and drawn three.

Holstein Kiel possible starting lineup:

Weiner; Ivezic, Johansson, Geschwill; Rosenboom, Holtby, Knudsen, Remberg, Puchacz; Skrzybski, Harres

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:

Gulacsi; Geertruida, Klostermann, Orban, Henrichs; Baumgartner, Vermeeren, Kampl, Nusa; Sesko, Openda