RB Leipzig 2026/27 season preview: Transfers, pre-season, predicted lineup & predictions

A full preview of RB Leipzig’s 2026/27 season — including summer transfers, pre-season results, predicted starting XI and expectations for the upcoming campaign.

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Ole Werner returned RB Leipzig to Champions League football, but Marcel Schäfer and Jürgen Klopp decided to take a new direction at the end of last season. In place of the 38-year-old, former FC Bayern defender Martin Demichelis became the first permanent Argentine coach in Bundesliga.

How was their 2025/26?

Werner’s (not Timo, but Ole) Leipzig debut was miserable as they lost 6-0 away at FC Bayern. Vincent Kompany’s side also recorded a huge victory (5-1) over Leipzig in the reverse fixture before completing the treble by knocking them out of the cup in the quarter-final stage.

Leipzig themselves recorded 6-0 victories over Augsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde as they followed the mismatched curtain-raiser by picking up 22 points from the subsequent eight games. They added another big win over direct rivals TSG Hoffenheim (5-0) in the second half of the season as they finished third to seal their Champions League return.

The Coach

That was a big achievement for Werner since RB Leipzig were out of any European competition in the year the Conference League final was staged at Red Bull Arena. However, after a lot of going back and forth, the club decided to replace the former Werder Bremen coach with Martin Demichelis. Before he leaves his post at Red Bull to become Germany’s head coach, Klopp was reportedly the instigator of the change.

Despite winning five of his 12 games, the 45-year-old was unable to keep RCD Mallorca in LaLiga in his last post. Leipzig still believed in the coach who won titles at River Plate before his short stint at Mexican club Monterrey as they decided to pay his €2.5 million release clause to sign him for two seasons.

A league winner in Germany, England and Spain as a player, Demichelis started his managerial career at his previous clubs Malaga and Bayern. This will be the first time he returns to German football since he left Regionalliga side Bayern II for River Plate in January 2023.

Transfers

Yan Diomande's saga was undoubtedly the biggest topic surrounding the club until Real Madrid finalised the €125 million transfer in the first week of August. After the end of the deal that secured a club record fee, Leipzig weren't able to quickly seal incoming transfers.

The return of former Bundesliga top-scorer Christopher Nkunku on an initial loan deal is the only attacking reinforcement so far this window. Fisnik Asllani was bound to join mere days after Diomande’s exit, but the deal for the Hoffenheim star was off at the advanced stage of a medical check.

Meanwhile, Lille's Matias Fernandez-Pardo is in Leipzig's radar after they briefly flirted with a sensational coup for Said El Mala. Furthermore, they're also linked with Germany international Nick Woltemade as the Newcastle United striker tipped to replace out-of-favor Conrad Harder.

Earlier in the window, Leipzig signed Gladbach's captain Rocco Reitz to replace the free agent Xavier Schlager, and they're now showing interest to acquire Robert Andrich after his captaincy at Bayer Leverkusen was stripped abruptly. 

With only a few days left, the €25 million signing of Maxime Estève from relegated Premier League club Burnley is the expensive incoming transfer. Nkunku isn't the only one to return to Leipzig this summer as Ørjan Nyland arrived at Red Bull Arena to be the understudy of Maarten Vandevoordt. There could be more departures in the coming days, but none would be as influential as the long-serving goalkeeper Péter Gulácsi.

Technically, we could also add Brajan Gruda among the new signings as they had to negotiate with Brighton to extend his loan spell with an obligation to buy under certain conditions.

Pre-season preparations

Leipzig ended pre-season with defeats away at Leeds United and FC Bayern. Diomande’s saga was the biggest headline during their training camp in Austria. At the same time, new signings Nyland, Estève, Reitz and Nkuku missed significant periods of preparations due to several reasons.

When Demichelis’ men started their competitive season with a 6-0 cup win over Regionalliga side Eintracht Trier, there were no new faces in Leipzig's starting lineup. On the contrary, Harder and Arthur Vermeeren came off the bench despite they'll most likely be at other clubs by September.

Predicted starting lineup

Once again, it's difficult to predict how they could lineup because of the new coach factor and ongoing transfer rumors. At least, we know Vandevoordt will be the starting goalkeeper, with lots of experience in front of him in defense.

Nicolas Seiwald is expected to take more responsibility in midfield, while Gruda and Antonio Nusa, who was in AS Roma's radar earlier in the window, will link up with Nkunku in the final third. Assan Ouédraogo and Christopher Baumgartner will miss the start of the season due to injuries, but they both have the potential to play crucial roles once they return. 

Mainly, Leipzig will work on adding quality and depth to their attacking line in the final few days of the summer transfer window.

Predicted Lineup (4-3-3): Vandevoordt; Raum ©, Lukeba, Estève, Baku; Seiwald, Reitz, Ouédraogo; Nusa, Nkunku, Gruda

Fixture list

Gladbach are the first Bundesliga opponents of the season for Leipzig as the two sides lock horns on Saturday. Their first away game will be against Werder Bremen days before the first Champions League matchday.

Demichelis will return to Allianz Arena in mid-October as Leipzig face Bayern on matchday six. The first head-to-head fixture with Dortmund will be at home in the last weekend before winterpause. Leipzig will end the campaign at home against Hoffenheim.

Expectations & Prediction

As ever, Borussia Dortmund bosses restrain from making promises to their fans with statements by Hans-Joachim Watzke and Niko Kovac suggesting Bayern will be the overwhelming favorites. Similarly – and rather understandably – Demichelis also said that Leipzig can't compete with Bayern, and it might be better to set a goal for winning Pokal for the third time.

Leipzig can surely compete with the chasing pack, but spending back the Diomande money could put them in a more favorable position compared to the likes of Dortmund, Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen.