Youthful exuberance as Leipzig host Stuttgart

Such a lofty league position did not initially appear to be on the cards for Leipzig.

A summer of upheaval including the arrival of a new coach in Ole Werner and the departures of players of the calibre of Benjamin Šeško, Loïs Openda and Xavi Simons, they began the new season with a heavy 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich.

Watch: Leipzig's Matchday 12 defeat in Munich

That trio, after all, netted 60 percent of Leipzig’s Bundesliga goals last term, contributing a further 17 assists between them.  

Their successors soon stepped up to the plate, however. Rômulo, Johan Bakayoko and Yan Diomande were far from household names upon their arrival, but they have already settled in well in their new surroundings, netting six goals between them in the top flight.

Add in Werner, who has built a reputation as one of the most promising head coaches in German football, and you have a recipe for success.

Watch: New-look RB Leipzig flying high

Since that opening day humbling, Leipzig are unbeaten, winning six of their next seven league assignments and drawing the other.

Even including those six goals conceded at the hands of the Bavarians, they have the fourth-best defence in the division, while only Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt have found the net more often than Leipzig’s 16 times.

Typically, Leipzig are mainly relying on youth. Only three players over the age of 29 – goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi, former captain Willi Orbán and Kevin Kampl – have made an appearance in the Bundesliga this term.

Meanwhile, teenagers Diomande, Andrija Maksimović, Kosta Nedeljkovic, Tidiam Gomis and the impressive Assan Ouédraogo – now featuring regularly after knee and hamstring injuries kept him out for almost the entirety of last season – have all made appearances.

The older heads amongst the group have stepped up too. David Raum has adapted well to wearing the captain’s armband, while Christoph Baumgartner already has five goals in eight Bundesliga matches, just two shy of his all-time record in a single season.

Despite his side’s good form, Werner is eager for the team to keep their feet on the ground, saying after Matchday 8’s 6-0 hammering of Augsburg, “We're taking things game by game and are happy that we have the points on the board and that we are where we are. The standings are not particularly significant for us at this moment in time, though."

Stuttgart’s wobbly start to the season, on the other hand, was perhaps more concerning, at least in its longevity. The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup loss to Bayern was perhaps expected, but a 2-1 defeat at Union Berlin on Bundesliga Matchday 1 was not. 

Watch: Augsburg 0-6 RB Leipzig 

They then required a penalty shoot-out to squeeze past second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig in the DFB Cup first round, before edging a narrow 1-0 victory over the struggling Borussia Mönchengladbach.

The 3-1 loss at Freiburg on Matchday 3, coupled with the departure of last year’s breakout star Nick Woltemade to Newcastle United, could have indicated a crisis at the MHPArena.

Stuttgart’s rise in the past few years has been nothing short of outstanding, though, and with Sebastian Hoeneß still at the helm, there was always a good chance that things would improve.

Watch: Stuttgart on the rise

And improve they have. Since that defeat against Freiburg, Stuttgart too are unbeaten domestically, entering the Leipzig clash on the back of a five-game winning run in the Bundesliga.

During that time, they have conceded just twice, displaying their defensive mettle as well as their attacking threat.

Hoeneß’s men haven’t just won games, they have dominated. Only Bayern (60 percent) have averaged more possession than Stuttgart’s 57 percent, while Vincent Kompany’s juggernaut are also the one team to have managed more than Stuttgart’s 134 shots (Leipzig are third in that particular ranking with 117).

Following Woltemade’s exit, Ermedin Demirović has impressed, while Deniz Undav has now returned to the side after injury and scored against Mainz on his first start since recovering.

Stuttgart have also recruited well, bringing in playmaker Bilal El Khannouss, former Wolfsburg player Tiago Tomás and Chema Andrés, all of whom have slotted into the team seamlessly. The latter’s displays have even kept club captain Atakan Karazor on the substitutes bench for much of the campaign.

Watch: Chema Andrés nets late winner against Gladbach

Remarkably, Stuttgart boast an even more youthful setup than their next opponents. Not only has no player aged 30 or over made it onto the pitch for them in the Bundesliga in 2025/26, just three teams have fielded a starting XI with a younger average age than the Swabians’ 24.7 years in the 2-0 triumph over St. Pauli on Matchday 4.

All in all, Saturday’s clash promises to be a captivating one between two sides who believe that the exuberance of youth and clever transfer business can send you towards the top of the Bundesliga. That will remain the case regardless of who prevails in Leipzig.