Rot-Weiss Essen – RB Leipzig: Preview
We have the lineups for the Rot‑Weiss Essen vs RB Leipzig match in the second round of the 2026/27 German Cup. Two years ago, RB Leipzig easily beat Rot‑Weiss Essen in the cup. Are there reasons for a surprise now?
Key Moments
Rot‑Weiss Essen
1. Rot‑Weiss Essen aims for the second Bundesliga
At least the early part of the competition suggests that. In the last round, at home, they beat Jöns Regensburg (1:0), which allowed them to cement third place. There is already a small gap: Saarbrücken, Alemannia Aachen and Ingolstadt 04 are four points behind.
Rot‑Weiss Essen still lags behind Duisburg and Viktoria Köln, and they score very little against them: 19 goals in 11 matches. The league leaders score 1.5 times more.
In the first round of the cup, at home, they beat St. Pauli (2:0), who was undergoing a painful rebuild after dropping from the Bundesliga.
2. The club lost midfielder Yan Potocnik to injury
The young Slovenian played less than half an hour and had to leave early. Unfortunately, coach Uwe Kosinat faces an increasingly difficult situation with each match.
A few days before the match against Jöns Regensburg, the main attackers Semir Telalovic and Marvin Obuć were no longer available. The Telalovic loaned from Nuremberg had already scored seven goals this season. Without him, there is practically no one to play and score against RB Leipzig.
3. In the season, Rot‑Weiss Essen won almost all home matches
The exception was the 1:1 draw with Gansa before the national teams’ break. In total, six wins in seven matches: an excellent result, but at third‑league level. RB Leipzig, even with their experimental squad, is a completely different level opponent.
Rot‑Weiss Essen dared, remember 2021, when in the cup they beat Alemannia, Fortuna and Bayern, and only in the quarter‑final stage did they face the unstoppable Holstein Kiel. But without much luck, RB Leipzig cannot be surpassed now. The 99% of the home‑win streak will end.
RB Leipzig
1. Martin Demichleis cannot feel at ease
Last year, Ole Werner worked well with the team, taking them to the Champions League. But the executives fired him for poor results against big clubs. The new coach, Martin Demichleis, is wobbling between home wins and away losses against strong teams.
After the break, RB Leipzig burned out without hope against Bayern (1:6) in the Bundesliga and Real Madrid (1:4) in the Champions League. In both cases, the prestige goal came before the final whistle. Now, in the cup, the opponent is fairly simple, but for Demichleis it creates additional difficulties: a win will not give him support, a loss will be a direct path to resignation.
2. Two defeats against the big ones – reason for squad changes
The weekend against Elfersberg saw eight changes in the squad, compared to the game against Real Madrid in the Champions League. But two stand out: the exit of goalkeeper Erjan Nyland in the first minutes and the goal of substitute Christoph Baumgarten. Demichleis expects maximum commitment from them in the future.
Against Rot‑Weiss Essen, they can still play without them. In addition, the weekend they rested David Rau, Nicolás Zivald and Castillo Lucía. The general task is to avoid injuries with the third‑league club.
3. Two years ago, RB Leipzig beat Rot‑Weiss Essen
The teams play in different leagues and only cross paths in the cup. Two years ago, in the summer, RB Leipzig won 4:1, but little remained of the squad. For example, Benjamin Shehko and Havi Simmons moved to the EPL, but their careers were paused by injuries.
In the season, RB Leipzig lost five of six away matches. The only exception is the cup, where in the first round they crushed Eintracht Trier (6:0). Now, the bad statistics of the Bulls will remain out of reach due to the low level of the opponent.
Approximate lineups
4-2-3-1-4-3-3-1
Golz26 Celebi15 Hüning23 Alonso2 Kostka22 Sietan11 Pesch14 Brumme25 Bätzner18 Aibia20 Janssen26 Van de Vort 17 Baku4 Orban23 Lucía22 Rau10 Gruda13 Zivald6 Banzuzi30 Maksimovich27 Gomiz7 Nusa
Trend forecasts
Rot‑Weiss Essen won eight of the last nine home matches. RB Leipzig lost the last five away matches. P1 costs 12.0.
Rot‑Weiss Essen scored in the last ten home matches, RB Leipzig conceded in nine of the last ten away matches. Rot‑Weiss Essen goal costs 1.78.
Prediction
Rot‑Weiss Essen vs RB Leipzig 27.10.2026 21:00
Rot‑Weiss Essen has really performed well in the last three months in the third league, holding onto the leaders Duisburg and Viktoria Köln. Home matches are especially strong, with only one defeat: a draw with Gansa (1:1). But all of this is against roughly equal rivals. RB Leipzig does not fit them.
Martin Demichleis is still adapting with variable results at the club. Home matches are a field of success; RB Leipzig wins with confidence, scores a lot, hardly lets goals through, and overall seems one of the best clubs in Germany. In away matches in any competition, the structure becomes a pumpkin. In the last week, RB Leipzig suffered two defeats against Bayern and Real Madrid, conceding ten goals.
Now, playing away again. It seems it will be the exception to the rule. RB Leipzig will beat Rot‑Weiss Essen, but this does not mean a break in the trend of away defeats.
Prediction: 1-3
