Bayer Leverkusen will attempt to consolidate their place at the top of the Bundesliga table when they play host to Rhine rivals Borussia Monchengladbach at the BayArena on Saturday evening.
The Foals will be seeking revenge after suffering a 3-0 defeat at home to Die Werkself on matchday two back in August last year.
Match preview
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Bayer Leverkusen claimed their 15th Bundesliga win of the season and have preserved their exceptional unbeaten start with another hard-fought yet vital victory last weekend, this time beating fourth-placed RB Leipzig 3-2 at the Red Bull Arena.
Die Werkself collected maximum points the hard way, as they came from behind twice in the second half before Piero Hincapie netted a dramatic 91st-minute winner, just a week after Exequiel Palacios scored in stoppage time to help Leverkusen beat Augsburg 1-0 in their first game of 2024.
Xabi Alonso's side have had their seven-point lead at the summit cut to four points following Bayern Munich's 1-0 win over Union Berlin in midweek, and Leverkusen have two more Bundesliga matches to focus on before locking horns with the reigning champions on home soil on February 10.
Leverkusen, the only team in Europe's top-five leagues who are yet to lose this season in all competitions, have accumulated an impressive 48 points from 18 Bundesliga games – only Pep Guardiola's Bayern in 2013-14 (50) and 2015-16 (49) have amassed more points at the halfway stage in a season.
Die Werkself will be confident of claiming three more points on Saturday as they have won seven of their last eight Bundesliga meetings with Monchengladbach, although they were forced to play out a 2-2 draw in their most recent home encounter in May last year.
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After winning their first game of 2024 by a 3-1 scoreline at home against third-placed Stuttgart, Borussia Monchengladbach came back down to earth with a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Augsburg last weekend.
The Foals were leading at half time courtesy of a strike from Theoson Siebatcheu, but Augsburg came out of the blocks with intent after the interval and netted twice in the first six minutes of the second half to turn the game on its head before holding on for maximum points.
Gerardo Seoane's side have won five, drawn five and lost eight of their first 18 Bundesliga games of the season and subsequently sit 12th in the table, nine points clear of the bottom three and eight points behind the top six at the halfway stage.
Monchengladbach are now seeking to claim back-to-back league wins under Seoane for the first time since his appointment in July last year, but success on Saturday could prove challenging considering their dismal away record.
Indeed, the Foals have only won one of their last 16 Bundesliga matches on the road and are winless in their last five. Despite scoring in every away league game this season, only four teams have picked up fewer away points than Monchengladbach in the German top flight this term, and defeat on Saturday would see them lose four successive away matches for the first time since 2017-18.
Team News
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Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Palacios picked up a groin injury against Leipzig and will join Victor Boniface (groin), and Arthur (thigh) on the sidelines, but the club have confirmed that Jeremie Frimpong has not sustained a serious injury after coming off in the first half following a heavy blow to his right thigh.
Edmond Tapsoba, Odilon Kossounou and Amine Adli are all away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Jonathan Tah is also unavailable through suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards, so midfielder Robert Andrich could be recalled to start in the back three alongside Hincapie and Josip Stanisic.
Borja Iglesias is reportedly set to join Leverkusen on loan from Real Betis and could therefore be in contention to make his debut on Saturday, but Patrik Schick will most likely lead the line, with Florian Wirtz and Jonas Hofmann providing support in the final third.
As for Monchengladbach, Tomas Cvancara (ankle), Jonas Omlin and Lukas Ullrich (both shoulder) are all ruled out through injury, and Ko Itakura is still away with Japan at the Asian Cup, while Rocco Reitz (muscle) and Maximilian Wober (ill) are both doubtful.
Stefan Lainer made his first appearance of the season as a second-half substitute last weekend following successful lymphoma cancer treatment, and the 31-year-old right-back will be in contention to feature again in some capacity against Leverkusen.
Alassane Plea, who has scored a team-high seven goals this term, will be looking to end a four-game goal drought on Saturday, and the Frenchman is set to be joined up front by in-form striker Siebatcheu, who has netted five goals in his last five appearances.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Stanisic, Andrich, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Puerta, Grimaldo; Hofmann, Wirtz; Schick
Borussia Monchengladbach possible starting lineup:
Nicolas; Scally, Friedrich, Elvedi, Netz; Honorat, Weigl, Kone, Hack; Siebatcheu, Plea
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach
Leverkusen will be regarded as favourites to come out on top this weekend, but Alonso will hope that his side can maintain their positive momentum without having to rely on another last-gasp goal this time around.
Monchengladbach's inconsistent form and poor record against Leverkusen bodes well for the hosts, who should have few problems claiming a comfortable victory to complete the double over their Rhine rivals.
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