Bayer Leverkusen are three points off first place in the Bundesliga table before Saturday's gameweek seven meeting with third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena.
Xabi Alonso's men enter this weekend's match after consecutive draws and host an opponent that have avoided losing in five top-flight fixtures.
Match preview
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Although Leverkusen no longer have to battle the pressure of sustaining their undefeated Bundesliga streak, following gameweek two's home defeat by RB Leipzig, the defending league champions setting such high standards have undoubtedly led to lofty expectations.
While Alonso's troops sit three points behind Bayern Munich — the team they deposed at the backend of last season — performances have been mixed in the campaign's opening six rounds.
The goals conceded are especially problematic for their Spanish head coach, with that statistic reading 12 entering the recent international break.
Conceding twice after racing into a 2-0 lead against newly promoted Holstein Kiel a fortnight back underscored the club's defensive bugbear, with Die Werkself's loss of focus against Kiel reminiscent of that 3-2 loss to Leipzig at the backend of August when they lost a two-goal advantage.
Leverkusen's defensive vulnerabilities have been particularly evident at the BayArena, where they have conceded a worrying eight of their twelve goals this season.
Given Saturday pits last term's champions against an opponent that have been prolific offensively and conceded at the other end, observers could expect another goal-fest.
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Of the sides in the top five, only Alonso's men have let in more goals (12) than this weekend's third-placed visitors, whose nine goals let in is worse off than both teams sandwiching them — second-placed Leipzig (two) and Freiburg (seven) — and table-topping Bayern (seven).
Dino Toppmoller's men have kept one shutout in six Bundesliga matches — a gameweek three success over Borussia Monchengladbach (2-0) — and have gone four straight fixtures in all competitions without one, that sequence of results bookended by 3-3 ties with Viktoria Plzen and Vincent Kompany's men before the hiatus.
Although the Europa League point felt like two lost after Die Adler let a 3-1 lead slip, the latter felt like a point gained after Omar Marmoush's stoppage time leveller saw SGE peg back the title contenders.
Frankfurt's goalscoring prowess has seen them score in every match since firing blanks in the 2-0 opening-day loss at Borussia Dortmund and Toppmoller's team hope to keep that run going on Saturday.
With only Bayern (20) and Leverkusen (16) notching more strikes than the club in third (14), an exciting tussle at the BayArena is anticipated as the away side hope to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat against Alonso's side.
Team News
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Florian Wirtz went off with a suspected ankle problem in Germany's 1-0 win over the Netherlands, making the Leverkusen star doubtful for Saturday.
With the team's best player anticipated to miss out, Alonso will turn to Victor Boniface — scorer of two match-winning Bundesliga goals this term — to step up, even if the Nigerian had a far from smooth time on international duty with the Super Eagles following the team's scary situation in Libya.
Marmoush and Hugo Larsson have also netted two game-clinching strikes for Frankfurt, only Freiburg's Ritsu Doan with three has more, and the former aims to add to his eight Bundesliga goals.
The away side are unlikely to be without Oscar Hojlund, who is expected to miss out for Die Adler due to an ankle problem.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Garcia, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Terrier, Adli; Boniface
Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:
Trapp; Kristensen, Tuta, Koch, Theate; Knauff, Shkiri, Larsson, Nkounkou; Ekitike, Marmoush
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Although Frankfurt have lost three on the trot against Leverkusen since that 5-1 thrashing of Alonso's men in October 2022, the defending champions' defensive struggles on home soil and potential Wirtz absence give Die Adler a chance this weekend.
This game has typically produced goals, and another goal-laden encounter is anticipated on Saturday, with the away side backed to nick a point at the BayArena.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
