Bayer Leverkusen vs. Eintracht Frankfurt preview: Leaders looking to remain unbeaten
Bayer Leverkusen will look to maintain their unbeaten record for the 2023-24 season when they play host to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
| Xabi Alonso | Bayer 04 Leverkusen |
Bayer Leverkusen
Having won 11 and drawn three of their 14 league games, Leverkusen head into Sunday’s contest with a four-point lead over second-placed Bayern Munich, who have a game in hand over die Werkself.
While Leverkusen are enjoying a memorable season, they have had to settle for 1-1 draws in their last two league games against difficult opposition. Victor Boniface scored a 79th-minute equaliser to help his side take a point off Borussia Dortmund, before Florian Wirtz netted a leveller in last Sunday’s away meeting with Stuttgart to maintain Leverkusen’s unbeaten record.
Xabi Alonso’s side were back in action in midweek, as they cruised to a 5-1 win over Molde in their final game of the Europa League group stage. After producing a dominant performance on Wednesday, die Werkself will now turn their attention to their final two league matches of 2023, with Frankfurt and Bochum set to visit the BayArena over the next few days.
Having won 11 of their 12 competitive home matches this season, Leverkusen will be confident about their chances of claiming maximum points on Sunday.
Team News
Leverkusen have reported no fresh injury concerns, but they are still unable to call upon Arthur due to an injury issue.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Frankfurt will have the opportunity to record a second straight league win after they clinched a stunning 5-1 victory over Bayern last weekend. Omar Marmoush, Junior Dina Ebimbe and Hugo Larsson all found the net in the first half to give die Adler a 3-1 lead at the break. Dina Ebimbe netted his second within five minutes of the restart, before Ansgar Knauff got on the scoresheet to wrap up a dominant win.
While that performance will be remembered for a long time, the result represents their sole victory in their last seven competitive matches, while they have lost five of their previous six games. Their most recent defeat took place on Thursday when they were beaten 2-0 by Aberdeen in the Europa Conference League.
Although they had already secured a place in the knockout rounds, they would have been disappointed with a result that represented a third consecutive away defeat in all competitions. If they are to end their poor run of away form, Frankfurt will need to beat Leverkusen at the BayArena for the first time since December 2013.
Team News
Kristijan Jakic, Timothy Chandler and Sebastian Rode are all ruled out with calf injuries, while Ebimbe, Farès Chaïbi and Ellyes Skhiri are all doubts. As for Marmoush, he will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.