Getty RB Leipzig midfielder Marcel Sabitzer.
RB Leipzig will host Mainz 05 at Red Bull Arena on Sunday in each squad’s Bundesliga season opener.
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In the United States, the match (9:30 a.m. ET) won’t be on TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch RB Leipzig vs Mainz live on ESPN+:
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Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $12.99 per month, which works out to about 31 percent savings:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch RB Leipzig vs Mainz live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
RB Leipzig vs Mainz Preview
Leipzig enjoyed a pair of stints atop the Bundesliga last season, sitting in first place as late as late January before ultimately finishing third on the table with 66 points, 16 behind league winners Bayern Munich.
Die Roten Bullen also reached the round of 16 of the DFB-Pokal and found the semifinals of the Champions League, succumbing to French domestic treble winners Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 on Aug. 18 in Lisbon after COVID-19 postponed the tournament’s last three rounds.
Leipzig got their 2020-21 campaign underway on Sept. 12, besting second-tier FC Nurnberg 3-0 on the road in the domestic cup competition’s first round.
“The win feels great,” manager Julian Nagelsmann said, according to the club’s official website. “We came into the game well prepared for this first game of the season, and had a clear plan which we carried out perfectly. Even despite the loss against PSG, the games in the Champions League gave us even more confidence and we showed that on the pitch! The team worked really well together, even though we had some new players out there. Everyone played their part.”
South Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan, a Leipzig newcomer, tallied in the 90th minute and assisted on Danish forward Yussuf Poulsen’s strike in the 67th to make it 2-0.
“I’m very pleased to have made the starting XI and of course with my goal,” Hwang said, per the club’s site. “But most of all I’m happy to have been able to help the team today. My last game was around two months ago, which is a long time. I’ve been using the break to train hard.”
Mainz placed 13th in league play last season, with 37 points, and exited in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. They did not repeat the latter result this year, opening the domestic cup competition with a 5-1 victory over fourth-tier TSV Havelse at home on Sept. 11.
The 05ers succumbed to Leipzig in each of the sides’ two meetings last season, getting outscored 13-0 on aggregate, including an 8-0 shellacking at Red Bull Arena.
“We all know the size of the task that we’re facing in Leipzig. A top team is waiting for us,” Mainz German goalkeeper Robin Zentner said, according to the club’s official website. “If they’re on form, then we really can’t afford to have a bad day. The opposition are fast and play really good football, they are physically strong and show great desire.”
He added: “We want to take something from the game this time, rather than gifting it to them like last year.”