Hoeneß guarantees starts for Touré and Chase against Leverkusen
Hoeneß' Swabians seek revenge against Xabi Alonso's Werkself in their first meeting since the DFL Supercup at the beginning of the season. The VfB gaffer has guaranteed starts for El Bilal Touré and Anrie Chase.
Malian striker El Bilal Touré will definitely be in the starting lineup for tomorrow's VfB Stuttgart fixture against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. VfB trainer Sebastian Hoeneß relayed this information while speaking at his Thursday pre-match press conference. Touré started over Eremdin Demirovic in last Saturday's Bundesliga match against Kiel, notching his second league goal of the campaign in the process.
Touré - very much in Hoeneß' good graces after scoring the winning goal against Juventus in the Champions' League - remained unused off the bench in Tuesday's Pokal victory over 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Hoeneß also confirmed that, just like in the Pokal, Anrie Chase and Anthony Rouault will serve as the starting center back duo. Jeff Chabot (also carrying an injury) remains unavailable due to suspension anyway.
‘Elbi’ will play," Hoeneß said, "He has earned that 100 percent. He is in very good form, is fresh and well rested and can cause problems for any defense with the way he plays, including Leverkusen's. He is agile, fast, good on the ball. These are the things we will need.”