Bayer Leverkusen vs. Wolfsburg preview: Champions targeting another victory

Bayer Leverkusen

After winning the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal last season, Leverkusen have made a promising start to the 2024-25 season, with their first five competitive matches producing four victories. They kicked off the campaign with a 3-2 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, before they edged out Carl Zeiss Jena in the Pokal. Leverkusen did experience disappointment on matchday two of the Bundesliga season, falling to their first domestic defeat since May 2023 in their home meeting with RB Leipzig. 

Xabi Alonso’s side have ultimately produced an emphatic response to that defeat, having gone on to record two dominant away wins. After sweeping past Hoffenheim by a 4-1 scoreline, Leverkusen clinched a 4-0 victory in Thursday’s Champions League clash with Feyenoord. Die Werkself netted all four goals in the first half in Rotterdam courtesy of a Florian Wirtz brace, a Álex Grimaldo effort and a Timon Wellenreuther own goal.

Team News

Leverkusen have reported no injury issues, giving Alonso a fully fit squad to choose from. The Leverkusen boss could be tempted to rotate his side following Thursday’s European exploits.

Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg have experienced an underwhelming start to the season, having won one and lost two of their opening three matches. They fell to a narrow defeat in their league opener against Bayern Munich, before they got on the board with a 3-0 win over Holstein Kiel. Unfortunately for Wolfsburg, they were unable to back up that result in their recent home clash with Eintracht Frankfurt. Ridle Baku thought he had salvaged a point with his 76th-minute equaliser, only to see former Wolfsburg forward Omar Marmoush net his second goal of the game to snatch all three points.

After experiencing disappointment on home turf, die Wölfe will now head on their travels with hopes of claiming consecutive away league wins for the first time since February/March 2023. However, Wolfsburg may find it tricky to clinch all three points, having failed to win any of their last five competitive meetings with Leverkusen. Last season, they lost 2-1 in the home fixture before falling to a 2-0 defeat in March’s away meeting. 

Team News

Joakim Maehle and Lovro Majer are both sidelined with ankle injuries, while Bartosz Bialek and Rogério are both ruled out due to knee issues. The visitors are also expected to be without Lukas Nmecha and Kevin Paredes