SV 07 Elversberg vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen preview: Debutants Die Elv host 2023/24 champions
| Elversberg's Francis Onyeka will face his parent club Leverkusen | Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images |
Bayer Leverkusen will be the first club visiting Spiesen-Elversberg for a Bundesliga fixture on Saturday. It’ll also be the first German top-flight fixture for both coaches, Vincent Wagner and Carles Martínez.
SV 07 Elversberg
With three promotions in only five seasons, Elversberg finally reached Bundesliga for the very first time. The most recent debutants Holstein Kiel were immediately back to 2. Bundesliga, but the previous four newcomers avoided that fate, including Heidenheim qualifying for Europe in only their second campaign.
As expected, Die Elv spent big ahead of their first-ever Bundesliga campaign. Francis Onyeka is one of the new additions as the youth international was the match-winner against Duisburg in the DFB-Pokal after completing his loan move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Team News
Alongside the 19-year-old attacker, fellow youngsters Cole Campbell, Maurice Krattenmacher, Noel Futkeu and Noah Darvich are all expected to make their league debuts for Elversberg. Meanwhile, the captain Lukas Pinckert will be back after missing the cup action due to suspension.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
After a turbulent campaign last term, Leverkusen will hope to start this season positively with the new coach Martínez. Erik ten Hag was relieved of his duties last term after his team squandered leads in the first two Bundesliga matchdays.
His replacement Kasper Hjulmand secured a Europa League qualification while they also had a good run in the Champions League, but it was quite clear they would go separate ways at the end of the season. Martínez had three Ligue 1 midtable finishes at Toulouse before becoming Leverkusen’s second Spaniard coach after Xabi Alonso.
Team News
The former captain Robert Andrich is now pushed to the exit door, with Exequiel Palacios’ move to Ipswich Town making no difference. New signing Kennet Eichhorn will have to wait a while before making his debut, while Miguel Gutiérrez, Facundo Medina and Afonso Moreira are candidates for the starting lineup.
Head-to-Head
The two teams locked horns in two Pokal ties in the last five years. Elversberg, who were a newly-promoted 3. Liga club at the time, stunned Leverkusen with a 4-3 victory at the start of the 2022/23 campaign. Die Werkself were triumphant in the most recent encounter courtesy of Patrik Schick's brace and a direct free-kick goal from Aleix García.
Predicted Lineups
Click here to see our predicted Elversberg vs. Bayer Leverkusen lineups.
