A combined Leipzig-Dortmund squad by jersey numbers

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Ahead of RB Leipzig’s crunch match with Borussia Dortmund, bundesliga.com has put together a heavyweight squad based on jersey numbers…

1. Peter Gulacsi > Gregor Kobel

It’s a tough one to call as to who gets the honour of being first choice in this combined team. There’s no doubt Dortmund look more secure with 23-year-old Kobel in goal following his summer move from VfB Stuttgart - and he looks set to only get better and hold the position for some time - but the experience and consistency of Gulacsi sees him get the nod. Leipzig’s goalkeeper kept the most clean sheets in the division last season (15) and once again has one of the highest save rates this term. Die Roten Bullen have also conceded five goals fewer over the first 10 matchdays despite trailing by nine points.

Watch: Gulacsi’s top 5 Bundesliga saves

2. Mohamed Simakan > Mateu Morey

3. Angelino

Both teams have superb attacking left-backs/wing-backs in Angelino and Raphael Guerreiro. Both make this squad, which would be a great selection headache for a coach. The Leipzig man has no rival No.3, but would likely be welcome in most teams for his impact at both ends of the pitch. Four goals and assists each in the Bundesliga last season made him one of the division’s standout defenders.

Watch: Angelino vs. Guerreiro – wing-back analysis ahead of their last meeting

4. Willi Orban > Soumaila Coulibaly

5. Dan-Axel Zagadou

6. –

7. Gio Reyna

The No.7 was worn last year by Jadon Sancho and Marcel Sabitzer, but we’ve kept up the standard of the famous jersey with one of the USA’s finest exports - as one of his predecessors, Jovan Kirovski, explained. Injury means we haven’t seen the 18-year-old in action since August, but the midfielder started the season in scintillating form with two goals in the opening three Bundesliga games.

Watch: Reyna – Half a century and more to come

8. Amadou Haidara > Mo Dahoud

9. Erling Haaland > Yussuf Poulsen

There are few teams out there who wouldn’t take Poulsen. He might not necessarily make the headlines, but Leipzig’s longest-serving player has constantly seen off competition up front and remains extremely effective at what he does. It’s unfortunate for the Dane that he shares a number with Haaland. His fellow Scandinavian is one of the most prolific goalscorers the Bundesliga has ever seen, getting his 49 goals from just 49 games – the fastest anybody has ever reached that total. Nine of those have come from only six appearances this season. Add in three assists and he’s behind only Robert Lewandowski for goal involvements, in four games fewer.

Watch: All of Haaland’s goals this season

10. Thorgan Hazard > Emil Forsberg

This was one of the harder decisions we had to make, because both Hazard and Forsberg have the ability to decide a game on their day. The latter was one of the stars of the summer with his four goals at UEFA Euro 2020, and the Swede is averaging a goal or assist almost every other game this season. He’s also able to play anywhere across the front, including as a false 9, but so can Hazard. His Euro exploits were by no means negligible, with two goals himself. Injuries have held him back this season, but he again looks key to this Dortmund team, not least as a makeshift centre-forward in Haaland’s injury absence. He’s shown that with three goals across his last two domestic outings against Cologne and Ingolstadt.

11. Marco Reus

12. –

13. Raphael Guerreiro > Philipp Tschauner

14. Tyler Adams > Nico Schulz

15. Mats Hummels

16. Manuel Akanji > Lukas Klostermann

17. Dominik Szoboszlai

18. Christopher Nkunku > Youssoufa Moukoko

There’s little doubt Moukoko will one day be one of the first names on a teamsheet as he once was at junior level, where he obliterated scoring records. For now, though, there’s no looking past Nkunku. The Frenchman has been Leipzig’s star performer this season with nine goals in only 15 competitive outings, including a hat-trick away at Manchester City. In the Bundesliga, it’s four goals and two assists, underlining his importance as both a finisher and creator. His 300 sprints are also a league high.

Watch: Nkunku – Made in Paris

19. Julian Brandt

20. Reinier

21. Donyell Malen > Brian Brobbey

22. Jude Bellingham > Nordi Mukiele

There are few teenegers in world football whose star is shining as brightly as Bellingham. He might’ve only turned 18 in the summer but the midfielder is already a fixture of this Borussia team and has started every single match this season and is starting to look the complete package. Commanding in the centre of the park while also adding goals to his game, he’s struck three times in all competitions in 2021/22 – including a brilliant solo finish against Arminia Bielefeld – as well as providing six assists. The England international ranks third in the Bundesliga for challenges won, seventh for number of sprints and leads the division for the most fouls on him (29).

Watch: Bellingham – Old head on young shoulders

23. Emre Can > Marcel Halstenberg

24. Thomas Meunier

25. Dani Olmo > Luca Unbehaun

Olmo’s absence has been a huge blow to Leipzig at the start of this season, after Euro 2020 and Tokyo Olympic commitments meant he returned late before picking up a muscle injury. But the Spaniard makes Die Roten Bullen a better side. He was directly involved in almost a quarter of Leipzig’s 60 Bundesliga goals last season (14) and played a large part in RB’s run to the DFB Cup final, where he scored in the final – the last time Leipzig and Dortmund met ahead of this Matchday 11 encounter.

Watch: The best of Olmo in the Bundesliga

26. Ilaix Moriba

27. Konrad Laimer > Steffen Tigges

28. Axel Witsel

29. Marcel Schmelzer

30. Felix Passlack

31. Josep Martinez

32. Josko Gvardiol > Abdoulaye Kamara

33. Andre Silva

It hasn’t quite been the start to life in Leipzig that many expected for Silva, but it’s surely only a matter of time before things click. The Portugal international joined on the back of a brilliant campaign that saw him score 28 times in 32 Bundesliga appearances, setting a club record for Eintracht Frankfurt and getting one more than Haaland. Take away Lewandowski’s historic 41 goals and there was no better goalscorer in the Bundesliga in 2020/21. The 25-year-old has three in 15 so far for Leipzig across all competitions. That rate will only improve.

Watch: All 28 of Silva’s Bundesliga goals last season

34. Marin Pongracic

35. Marwin Hitz > Solomon Bonnah

36. Ansgar Knauff

37. Tobias Raschl > Sidney Raebiger

38. Roman Bürki > Hugo Novoa

39. Marius Wolf > Benjamin Henrichs

40. Stefan Drljaca

41. -

42. Göktan Gürpüz

43. -

44. Kevin Kampl > Immanuel Pherai

Sometimes a game will go by without you even realising that Kampl was on the pitch. That isn’t to say he goes missing, but that his work goes under the radar. Leipzig’s former Dortmund man does his job in the centre of midfield in an uncomplicated but pivotal manner, providing the link between defence and attack. The 31-year-old Slovenia international has a pass completion rate of over 92 per cent this season, which is the fourth best in the league. Given the departure of Sabitzer, he’s now the leader in the centre of the park for Leipzig, dictating the play and breaking up opposition attacks.

45. Lennard Maloney

46. Marco Pasalic > Ben Klefisch

47. Antonios Padadopoulos > Joscha Wosz