Union Berlin vs. Bayer Leverkusen: Leaders hoping to edge closer to historic title
Bayer Leverkusen will have the chance to move closer to claiming their first Bundesliga title when they travel to Stadion An der Alten Försterei for Saturday’s meeting with Union Berlin.
| Xabi Alonso | Bayer 04 Leverkusen |
Union Berlin
Union head into the weekend off the back of a mixed run of form, which has seen them win one, draw two and lose two of their previous five league games. They have at least managed to bounce back from consecutive defeats to take four points from their last two outings. Nenad Bjelica’s side recorded a 2-1 home win over Werder Bremen, before they played out a goalless draw in last Saturday’s away clash with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Having moved nine points clear of the drop zone, Union are on course to extend their Bundesliga stay into a sixth consecutive season. Although they will face a tough test this weekend, Union can take confidence from the fact they have lost just one of their previous eight home league games (W5, D2).
However, die Eisernen have failed to win any of their previous six meetings with Leverkusen since recording a narrow 1-0 win in January 2021.
Team News
Union are expected to be without the injured trio of Jerome Roussillon, Jakob Busk and Janik Haberer.
Bayer Leverkusen
Leverkusen’s memorable season has shown no signs of slowing down after enjoying more success over the last seven days. First, die Werkself scored two late goals to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 and extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to 13 points with seven matches left to play. Xabi Alonso’s side then went on to cruise to a 4-0 victory in Wednesday’s DFB-Pokal semi-final against 2.Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf. Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli grabbed a goal apiece, before Florian Wirtz netted a brace to send Leverkusen soaring into their first Pokal final since 2019-20.
Impressively, die Werkself are still yet to lose a competitive game this season, while they have also won each of their previous five matches since drawing 2-2 in the first leg of their Europa League tie against Qarabag.
With Leverkusen dreaming of winning a treble, they will look to edge closer to claiming their first Bundesliga title when they go up against Union on Saturday. The visitors may have won all six of their away league games in 2024, but they have failed to win any of their last three away meetings with Union (D1, L2). As a result, they are looking to beat Union at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei for the first time since February 2020.
Team News
Alonso will have the majority of his squad available for Saturday’s contest, but he is still unable to call upon Arthur.