Leipzig v Zenit facts

Having lost the leadership of Group G with a home defeat on Matchday 2, Leipzig will be keen to reassert themselves as Zenit, who now occupy first place in the standings, come to Germany.

• The Bundesliga side were beaten at home by Lyon last time out having kicked off their second UEFA Champions League campaign with victory at Benfica; Zenit, who got the better of the Portuguese side in St Petersburg in their most recent fixture, have four points, level with Lyon and one more than their German rivals.

Previous meetings
• The sides' only past contests are also Leipzig's only UEFA matches against a Russian club. They were 2-1 winners in the home first leg against Zenit in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 16, Timo Werner scoring the decisive goal, and progressed thanks to a 1-1 draw in St Petersburg, a Sebastián Driussi goal in first-half added time proving insufficient for Zenit.

Form guide
Leipzig
• Werner's double gave Leipzig three points at Benfica on Matchday 1 – their third UEFA Champions League victory in their seventh match in the competition – although they then went down 2-0 at home to Lyon.

• Third in the Bundesliga last season and German Cup finalists, this is Leipzig's third European campaign, and only their 27th match. They became the first team to make their European debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2017/18, when they picked up seven points to finish third in a section including Beşiktaş, Porto and Monaco. They went on to reach the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals before losing to Marseille.

• Leipzig's first European home game was a 1-1 draw against Monaco on Matchday 1 two years ago; also at home in that season's group stage, they beat Porto 3-2 but lost 2-1 to Beşiktaş.

• In 2018/19 the German club came through three qualifying rounds to reach the UEFA Europa League group stage, but finished behind Salzburg and Celtic to drop out of the competition, collecting seven points from their three games.

• Leipzig have won seven of their 13 home European matches (D2 L4), although only one of the last four (D1 L2).

Zenit
• Having been held 1-1 at Lyon on Matchday 1, Zenit were 3-1 winners at home to Benfica two weeks later, only their second win in their last seven European matches (D1 L4).

• Zenit are without a win in ten European away matches (D3 L7) since a 3-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Matchday 6 of the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League.

• Zenit claimed their sixth USSR/Russian league title in 2018/19, and the first since 2015; their last five triumphs have all come from 2007 onwards.

• This is the St Petersburg outfit's seventh UEFA Champions League group campaign, and a first since 2015/16, when they reached the round of 16 for the third time.

• In 2018/19, Zenit's 12th successive European campaign, they began in the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, staging an astonishing second-leg comeback against Dinamo Minsk in St Petersburg to win 8-1 after extra time following a shock 4-0 first-leg defeat in Belarus. They went on to beat Molde in the play-offs and finish first in a group including Slavia Praha, Bordeaux and Copenhagen, beating Fenerbahçe in the round of 32 before losing home (1-3) and away (1-2) against Villarreal in the round of 16.

• That 2018 defeat at Leipzig was Zenit's most recent away game in Germany, where they have lost on their last two visits; they were unbeaten in five successive matches on German soil (W3 D2) until a 0-2 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Links and trivia
• Have played in Germany:
Róbert Mak (Nürnberg 2010-14)
Douglas Santos (Hamburg 2016-19)

• Christopher Nkunku made his senior debut for Paris Saint-Germain as a late substitute in a 2-0 win against Yaroslav Rakits'kyy's Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 8 December 2015.

• Yussuf Poulsen scored his first goal for Denmark in a 2-0 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying win against a Serbia team captained by Branislav Ivanović on 13 June 2015.

• Patrik Schick was on target for the Czech Republic against Rakits'kyy's Ukraine (1-2) and twice against a Slovakia team including Mak (2-1 a, 1-0 h) in the UEFA Nations League in 2018.

• Ethan Ampadu was in the Wales side that drew 1-1 against Róbert Mak's Slovakia  in a UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier on 10 October.

Latest news

Leipzig
• Leipzig are four competitive games without a win; they were held 1-1 at home by Wolfsburg on Saturday.

• Leipzig suffered their first defeat of the season in all competitions on 28 September, going down 3-1 at home to Schalke to lose the leadership of the Bundesliga. After the home loss on Matchday 2 against Lyon they drew 1-1 in Leverkusen on 5 October.

• Timo Werner scored five goals in the first three Bundesliga games this season, and ended a scoreless run of four league games by giving Leipzig the lead on Saturday.

• In the European Qualifiers Marcel Sabitzer scored in Austria's 3-1 home win against Israel on 10 October.

• Two days later Yussuf Poulsen got Denmark's late winner in a 1-0 UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying success against Switzerland.

• Werner was on target for Germany in a 3-0 qualifying win at Estonia on 13 October.

• Ibrahima Konaté suffered a hip injury against Lyon, but is back in light training.

• Kevin Kampl returned as a substitute against Wolfsburg having been out since 30 August with an ankle injury .

• Tyler Adams has been out since the beginning of August due to a metatarsal injury, but is back in light training.

• On 17 June Hannes Wolf scored for Austria against Serbia in their first game of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship before breaking his right ankle. He is also back in light training.

Zenit
• Zenit have won five of their last six league games, beating Rostov 6-1 at home on Saturday.

• Artem Dzyuba has provided the most assists (8) in this season's Russian Premier League, including two on Saturday. He has also scored eight goals himself and hit a hat-trick against Rostov.

• Dzyuba scored three goals and provided three assists for Russia in UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying victories against Scotland (4-0) and Cyprus (5-0) as his team booked their place in next summer's finals. Magomed Ozdoev also scored in both games with Vyacheslav Karavaev coming off the bench to make his international debut against Cyprus.

• With nine goals Dzyuba is the second highest scorer in the European Qualifiers behind Israel's Eran Zahavi (11).

• Sardar Azmoun hit a first-half hat-trick as Iran overwhelmed Cambodia 14-0 in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying on 10 October.

• Yordan Osorio set up a goal in Venezuela's 2-0 friendly victory against Trinidad and Tobago on 14 October.

• Malcom, who has not played since 10 August due to a thigh injury, has undergone surgery and is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the year.

• Zenit lost 3-2 to Lokomotiv Moskva in the Russian Super Cup on 6 July.

FootballPeople weeks
The FootballPeople weeks take place from 10 to 24 October 2019 and are organised by UEFA's social responsibility partner Fare. The weeks are a global campaign aimed at tackling discrimination and celebrating diversity in football. The UEFA Champions League is offering its full support to the FootballPeople weeks; teams will line up for a mixed photo with the referees, while an #EqualGame hashtag will also be on display. Videos will be played on giant screens at stadiums across Europe, and child mascots will be wearing #FootballPeople t-shirts. UEFA's collaboration with the Fare network's FootballPeople weeks has been running since 2001. The aim of this initiative fits in perfectly with the goals of #EqualGame, which is looking to promote inclusion, diversity and accessibility.