Bayer Leverkusen vs. Wolfsburg preview: Can the leaders restore their 10-point cushion?
After Bayern Munich recorded a dominant 8-1 victory over Mainz 05 on Saturday, Leverkusen will attempt to restore their 10-point lead at the top of the table when they play host to Wolfsburg on Sunday evening.
Bayer Leverkusen
Leverkusen are still yet to lose a competitive game this season after they preserved their unbeaten run with a battling performance in Thursday’s Europa League clash with Qarabag. Xabi Alonso’s side were trailing by two goals at half time of the first leg of the last-16, leaving them with a mountain to climb in the second period. Florian Wirtz found the net in the 70th minute to give Leverkusen an element of hope, before Patrik Schick scored a stoppage-time equaliser to complete the comeback.
Die Werkself will welcome Qarabag to the BayArena on Thursday, but before they can focus on the second leg, they must negotiate a home league game against Wolfsburg. Leverkusen will certainly fancy their chances of claiming all three points, having won nine of their previous 10 league matches, including each of their last five top-flight outings.
The hosts will also be looking to produce another strong defensive performance after keeping clean sheets in four of their previous five home games in the Bundesliga.
Team News
Leverkusen are without the injured duo of Victor Boniface and Arthur, while Jeremie Frimpong will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg will be desperate to return to winning ways after failing to win any of their last nine league matches since beating Darmstadt in the middle of December. After playing out back-to-back draws, die Wölfe fell to defeat in last Saturday’s home meeting with Stuttgart.
As a result of their poor run of form, Niko Kovac’s side are sitting in 13th place and seven points above the drop zone. Wolfsburg will now be bracing themselves for a tough test against the league leaders, especially with die Wölfe struggling to find their best form on the road. Although they have lost one of their last five away league games, Wolfsburg have won just one of their previous 11 away matches in the top flight.
The visitors can at least take confidence from the fact they have avoided defeat in each of their last seven away games against Leverkusen.
Team News
Joakim Maehle is set to miss out through suspension after he received his fifth yellow card of the Bundesliga season last weekend. Meanwhile, Jakub Kaminski is a doubt due to illness.