Unstoppable at home, struggling away: What’s behind RB Leipzig’s inconsistency?
RB Leipzig are one of four teams with a 100 percent record at home in the 2026/27 Bundesliga and are in fact on a record winning run at the Red Bull Arena, but it’s a very different picture on their travels for Martín Demichelis’ side – as evidenced by their recent trip to Munich.
You have to go back to February and a 2-2 draw with Borussia Dortmund for the last time Leipzig dropped points in their own backyard. The last defeat came at the hands of Mainz at the end of January.
A run of eight straight Bundesliga wins at the Red Bull Arena is now a new club record for Die Roten Bullen, including three victories to kick off 2026/27 with a pretty flawless return of 14 goals scored and zero conceded. You can also throw in a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA Champions League.
“Today showed what again we’re capable of,” David Raum had said after thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0 on Matchday 5. However, the club captain also pointed out fairly that “our season has been a rollercoaster so far”.
Watch: Leipzig hit Frankfurt for six
That is the ups of playing at home followed by downs of heading out on the road. Apart from beating Eintracht Trier of the fourth-tier Regionalliga 6-0 in the first round of the DFB Cup back in August, Leipzig have lost all four away fixtures this season.
In the Bundesliga, they have gone down 3-1 at Werder Bremen, 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen and most recently 6-1 in Munich. There was also a 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League.
You have to go back to 1976/77 for the last time a team had such contrasting home and away form after six games, when Frankfurt scored 15 goals in three home wins but lost three away games with only two goals scored.
Watch: Leipzig brushed aside at Bayern
Managing director Marcel Schäfer stated recently: “It’s too easy for me to talk about two sides to us.”
On the surface, however, there are certainly two sides to Leipzig this season.
Leipzig’s stats from three Bundesliga home games read: three wins, 14 goals scored (xG 11.51), 61 attempts, 13 big chances (seven converted), zero goals conceded (xGA 3.16), 42 shots faced.
Meanwhile, Leipzig’s stats from three Bundesliga away games read: three losses, two goals scored (xG 3.04), 41 attempts, one big chance (and converted), 11 goals conceded (xGA 7.35), 59 shots faced (of which 29 came against Bayern).
They are clearly creating and scoring far more at home than away, while conceding and allowing opponents far more attempts on their travels.
You can talk about a team being punished for not adapting away from home, but Demichelis sacrificed an out-and-out striker for an extra midfielder in the Bayern game and they still got blown away, conceding six despite Maarten Vandevoordt setting a season record of 11 saves.
The Belgian, who’s taken over as first choice from Péter Gulácsi this season, had also made 10 stops the previous week against Frankfurt and tops the Bundesliga with 38 saves. His rate of saves at 78% is well above the division average of 67%.
Dig deeper into the stats and things don’t quite add up. Leipzig actually average more possession away (53%) than they do at home (52%) and have a marginally better pass completion rate (88% vs. 87.7%).
Effort also hasn’t appeared an issue, covering more ground on the road (355 kilometres) than at home (347 kilometres) and being only a fraction of a second down when it comes to ball recovery time (16.2 seconds vs. 17 seconds).
When Raum spoke at the start of October about “fluctuations” in performance, he can’t have meant those metrics.
Is a problem for Leipzig that they have become too one dimensional? They and Leverkusen are the only teams yet to score from a set piece in the Bundesliga this season, meaning all 16 goals have come from open play. On a positive note, they have only conceded once from a dead ball.
Raum himself has tried to do his part in putting that right. Last season he delivered 10 set pieces leading to a goal. It may be zero this term, but he leads the league alongside Michael Olise for chances created on 20 each.
It is all a conundrum that Leipzig need to find a solution for quickly. They will believe they can continue their winning run at home when Elversberg, Augsburg and Mainz come to the Red Bull Arena next. But Demichelis’ men also have a tricky away run at Schalke, Union Berlin and Freiburg where they will need to start to click.
