Bayer Leverkusen will be expected to solidify their place amongst the Champions League spots in the Bundesliga when they welcome bottom-of-the-table Greuther Furth to the BayArena on Saturday.
The hosts continued their recent upturn in results with an impressive victory at RB Leipzig last weekend, whilst their visitors were on the wrong end of a nine-goal thriller to suffer an 11th straight defeat.
Match preview
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Goals from Florian Wirtz, Moussa Diaby and Jeremie Frimpong were enough for Leverkusen to see off Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena last Sunday, in what was an excellent display and the type to send out a statement to fellow challengers for the top four.
The pace and directness of the Die Werkself attack was back to its counter-attacking best, and as a result, Gerardo Seoane's men climbed above Freiburg into third place as we approach the halfway stage of the Bundesliga campaign.
Wirtz and Diaby's strikes were their fifth league goals of the campaign each, with the young duo helping to fill the void left behind by Patrik Schick after his injury absence.
However, with the Czech Republic international returning in Leipzig last weekend, Seoane will be looking for the Bundesliga's joint third-highest goalscorer this campaign to get back amongst the goals to help propel his side towards the summit occupied by Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who sit six and seven points above Leverkusen heading into matchday 14.
The well-deserved three points in Leipzig were not only crucial in sending out a statement to the chasing pack for the European spots, but also in maintaining momentum during a recent revival in results and performances that have followed a mini slump in form for Leverkusen.
Prior to the four wins and a draw across the last five games in all competitions, Leverkusen went five without victory, including three losses, as they fell away from a potential title challenge with Bayern Munich following a near-perfect start to the campaign under new boss Seoane.
However, with his side performing back to their early-season standards, and their talisman returning up front, the Swiss manager will be looking to record a comfortable victory on Saturday to strengthen their position in the Champions League spots, whilst also gaining ground on the top two, who face off against one another later in the day.
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Meanwhile, a revival in form is still nowhere in sight for Saturday's visitors, as a return to the German top flight continues to be a miserable one for Greuther.
Appearing in the Bundesliga for the first time in eight years, which saw the Cloverleaves drop back to the second tier without a fight, their destiny looks to be the same this time around unless boss Stefan Leitl can perform the greatest of escapes.
Last weekend's 6-3 humbling to Hoffenheim in front of their own supporters pretty much summed up their dreadful campaign so far, with their league-worst defence leaking three or more goals for the eighth time already in the opening 13 league fixtures.
In fact, the 39 goals conceded is already 12 more than the next leakiest defence across the division, with Hertha Berlin closest on 27 conceded.
Leitl will be under pressure to at least offer supporters a glimmer of hope or something to cheer about in the coming weeks, with the hierarchy unlikely to stand much more misery following the return of one point heading into the 14th league fixture on Saturday.
Although, the goals from Jamie Leweling, Timothy Tillman and Branimir Hrgota in Furth last weekend did at least provide the Greuther faithful with their first experience of more than a single league goal being netted in a match this season.
Any goal scored by Greuther at the BayArena will be viewed as a bonus though, in what is a daunting trip considering the outlook of both sides, as well as the failure to score against Leverkusen in their last two meetings back in the 2012-13 campaign.
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Team News
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Schick's return in Leipzig last weekend means he is certain to lead the line once more for Leverkusen on Saturday, with the talented young trio of Amine Adli, Wirtz and Diaby potentially providing the support behind him.
Mitchel Bakker remains absent with an ankle injury, so Piero Hincapie is likely to continue at left full-back, whilst fellow defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah is nearing a return from his long-term absence, but a lack of match fitness means he is unlikely to feature yet.
Julian Baumgartlinger also nears a return from a serious knee injury, but this one will come too soon for him as well, although Karim Bellarabi could feature following a bout of tonsillitis.
As for the visitors, their defensive issues are worsened by the continued absences of Justin Hoogma, Gideon Jung and Nick Viergever from their back line.
Forwards Jessic Ngankam and Robin Kehr remain sidelined with long-term knee injuries, whilst midfielder Paul Seguin could miss out due to a bout of illness.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Frimpong, Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Palacios, Andrich; Diaby, Wirtz, Adli; Schick
Greuther Furth possible starting lineup:
Funk; Meyerhofer, Sarpei, Bauer, Willems; Griesbeck, Christiansen, Tillman; Leweling, Abiama, Hrgota
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 Greuther Furth
It is difficult to see past a comfortable home win at the BayArena on Saturday, with all signs pointing towards a wide goal margin between the two sides.
Leverkusen are on the up and are playing towards their high standards set at the start of the campaign, whilst Greuther are lacking the quality to compete against most sides in the division.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayer Leverkusen win with a probability of 70.29%. A draw had a probability of 17% and a win for Greuther Furth had a probability of 12.73%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayer Leverkusen win was 2-0 with a probability of 10%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.52%) and 3-0 (8.17%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.76%), while for a Greuther Furth win it was 1-2 (3.69%). The actual scoreline of 7-1 was predicted with a 0.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Bayer Leverkusen would win this match.
