Wolfsburg vs Bayer Leverkusen preview: Can Die Werkself bounce back?
Bayer Leverkusen will be looking for a morale boost after a miserable week, when they travel to the Volkswagen Arena to face Wolfsburg.
| Photo: Werner100359, CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Wolfsburg
Despite picking up ten points from their last six matches, Wolfsburg enter Sunday's contest just five points clear of the relegation playoff spot.
Die Wölfe will have to pick themselves up from the demoralising defeat they suffered last weekend against Freiburg.
Florian Kohfeldt's side fought back from two goals down thanks to goals from Max Kruse and Maximilian Arnold, however, they were agonisingly denied a point after Nico Schlotterbeck won the game for Freiburg with just three minutes remaining.
Wolfsburg will, however, be boosted by their recent home form, with Die Wölfe avoiding defeat in three of their last four league matches, and they could claim back-to-back home victories with a win on Sunday.
Team News
First choice goalkeeper Koen Casteels will miss out once again due to a hip problem, while Maximilian Philipp and Micky van de Ven are also ruled out of Sunday's contest.
Bayer Leverkusen
Leverkusen have had a torrid time of late. Last weekend Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong picked up injuries that will rule them both out for the rest of the season, while on Thursday, they were knocked out of the Europa League by Atalanta.
Despite enduring a forgettable week, Leverkusen have to remain focused with the battle for the top four heating up. Ahead of Sunday's encounter, just one point separates Leverkusen in third and Hoffenheim in sixth place.
Die Werkself take the third-best away record into Sunday's contest, while in their last three league away games, they have beaten Dortmund and taken a point off of Bayern Munich, which will offer encouragement ahead of the Wolfsburg clash.
Teams News
As well as Wirtz and Frimpong, Leverkusen will be without Timothy Fosu-Mensah - who picked up an injury on Thursday - and their topscorer Patrik Schick for a sixth consecutive game.