RB Leipzig travel to Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League play-off tie on Thursday with Timo Werner in line for a first appearance of the season (kick-off: 8:30pm CEST/7:30pm BST/2:30pm ET).
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Leipzig’s Bundesliga campaign doesn’t start until Sunday against Borussia Dortmund, but they have already played five competitive matches this campaign. Die Roten Bullen have beaten Sweden’s Häcken (5-1) and Romania’s Craiova (4-2) to reach this final qualification hurdle for the group stage, and on Sunday beat Viktoria Köln 3-1 in the DFB Cup. The big question for RB fans is whether their top scorer from the last two seasons, Werner, will finally make his first appearance of the campaign out in Ukraine. He has returned to training this week, but Leipzig have coped well in the absence of the Germany international, with summer signing Matheus Cunha hitting the ground running with two goals and an assist in his first four matches. Fellow striker Jean-Kevin Augustin is also in good form with two goals and two assists in his five outings.
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Zorya finished fourth in Ukraine last season and only began their Europa League qualifying campaign in the previous round. They came through that tie on away goals against Portugal’s Braga to set up this meeting. The 2018/19 Ukrainian Premier Liga is already underway with Zorya sitting fifth after five games, which has seen them win two, draw two and suffer the one loss. The Ukrainian side have reached the Europa League group stage for the last two years, also facing Bundesliga opposition in Hertha Berlin last season.
Probable line-ups
Zorya: Luiz Felipe – Tymchyk, Vernydub, Svatok, Mykhaylichenko – Karavaev, Kharatin, Silas – Lednev, Khomchenovskiy – RataoAbsentees: Gromov (ankle)Coach: Yuri Vernydub
Leipzig: Mvogo – Mukiele, Orban, Konate, Saracchi – Bruma, Demme, Kampl, Forsberg – Cunha, AugustinAbsentees: Halstenberg (cruciate ligament)Coach: Ralf Rangnick
Match stats
This is the first competitive meeting between these two sides.
Werner is Leipzig’s all-time top scorer in the Europa League with four goals in five games.
Leipzig have drawn 1-1 in three of their last four European away games.
Zorya lost 2-0 in Berlin in last season’s group stage before beating Hertha 2-1 at home.
This game will be played 200 miles away from Zorya’s home in Luhansk at the Slavutych-Arena in Zaporizhia.
Leipzig advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals last season, where they lost to Olympique Marseille 5-3 on aggregate.