Bayer Leverkusen vs. SC Freiburg preview: Leverkusen aim to end league leaders' unbeaten run
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Bayer Leverkusen
After a disappointing opening-day defeat to newly-promoted Elversberg, Bayer Leverkusen have found their feet under Carles Martinez, and now sit fourth in the Bundesliga with ten points from their opening five matches.
Die Werkself secured a dramatic 4-3 victory away at Mainz last weekend, before comfortably dispatching Lech Poznan 4-0 in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Leverkusen have now won four successive matches in all competitions, with their attacking performances particularly impressive of late, scoring eight goals in their last two outings.
Martinez's side have also been excellent at the BayArena this season, winning both home league matches without conceding, beating Union Berlin 4-0 and RB Leipzig 2-0.
Team news
On the team news front, Martin Terrier is unlikely to feature after being forced off with an injury early in Thursday's victory in Poland.
The Frenchman is expected to join Christian Kofane, Montrell Culbreath and Eliesse Ben Seghir on the sidelines, leaving Martinez with fewer attacking options.
Young starlet Kennet Eichhorn is also continuing to work his way towards a full recovery after making his move from Hertha over the summer.
Click here to see our predicted Leverkusen lineup
SC Freiburg
It has been a remarkable start to the Bundesliga campaign for Freiburg, who put themselves at the top of the table with 13 points last Sunday, having won four and drawn one of their opening five matches.
Julian Schuster's side climbed to the summit last weekend with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Schalke, as Keisuke Goto netted a late winner despite the hosts being reduced to ten men.
That was followed by a 3-2 victory against Czech opposition Jablonec in the Conference League on Thursday, meaning Freiburg have now gone nine competitive matches without defeat this season.
However, Sunday's trip to the BayArena represents arguably their toughest test so far, particularly given that Freiburg have failed to beat Leverkusen in their last seven meetings, with their most recent victory coming in September 2022.
Team news
Schuster will be without Yuito Suzuki after the Japanese international received two yellow cards against Schalke last weekend, but elsewhere, the Freiburg boss has the remainder of his squad to choose from.
