Bayer Leverkusen will be looking for a fourth consecutive win when they welcome relegation-threatened Stuttgart to the BayArena on Saturday evening.
The hosts solidified their place inside the Champions League spots last weekend thanks to a thumping win, whilst the visitors' poor form continued as they fell further behind in their fight against the drop.
Match preview
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With much of the focus on Borussia Dortmund looking to keep the pressure on Bayern Munich at the summit of the Bundesliga last Sunday, Leverkusen came to spoil the occasion and record a statement win at Signal Iduna Park instead.
Come the final whistle, that is exactly what Gerardo Seoane's men had accomplished, in a devastating 5-2 triumph thanks to an excellent counter-attacking display.
A Manuel Akanji own goal set Die Adler on their way, and despite Jeremie Frimpong also putting through his own net to level the tie just six minutes later, Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich added further goals as Leverkusen raced into a 3-1 lead before half time.
Jonathan Tah and Moussa Diaby extended their lead to 5-1 at the home of the second-placed title challengers, before Steffen Tigges pulled a consolation goal back in the final few minutes.
It was a remarkably clinical performance from the visitors, and although it was one that all but ended the title race in the Bundesliga, it was also a result that saw Leverkusen strengthen their place in the top four.
Heading into matchday 22, Saturday's hosts are five points above Freiburg in fifth as a result, and with just as many points now separating them from Dortmund in second, there is every reason for Leverkusen to be confident in achieving a top-two finish come May.
If they can perform anywhere near their best at the BayArena on Saturday, like they have done in their wins over Borussia Monchengladbach, Augsburg and Dortmund in recent weeks, then Seoane's side are almost certain to record a fourth win in a row, and further strengthen their hold on a Champions League spot in the process.
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Meanwhile, the fortunes of the visitors could not differ much more than they do at this stage, with Stuttgart picking up just one point in their last six Bundesliga fixtures.
The 3-2 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend did at least mean that Stuttgart found their goalscoring touch again, after previously failing to find the back of the net in their previous five outings.
However, it was not enough to pick up a result, and it was one that leaves Die Roten in the relegation places heading into matchday 22, with four points now separating them from Augsburg in the relegation playoff spot due to their shock win last weekend.
With just one win being achieved in their last 19 meetings with Saturday's opponents, including 14 defeats in that time, it is difficult for the visitors to have much hope of picking up any kind of result at the BayArena, before even considering the drastic difference in the form of both sides heading into the encounter.
Should Pellegrino Matarazzo's side manage to pull off an unlikely victory though, it would be a huge result that could pull his side back into the fight for safety, whilst also potentially easing the pressure on his job in the process.
Austrian forward Sasa Kalajdzic remains at the centre of their hopes of picking up a positive result, after he netted his first goal of the season in the defeat last week, after missing much of the season so far due to injury.
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Team News
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Despite somehow failing to get his name on the scoresheet in the midst of the 10 goals scored in their last two games, Patrik Schick will lead the line for Leverkusen again on Saturday.
The Czech Republic striker has netted 18 Bundesliga goals in as many games this season, and although he will be pleased with his side's performance as a team in recent weeks, he will be eager to add to his incredible tally against a struggling opponent on Saturday.
Diaby has netted four goals in his last two, and will look to provide support for Schick in what is expected to be an unchanged starting lineup, other than the return of first-choice goalkeeper, and captain, Lukas Hradecky.
Andrey Lunev, Julian Baumgartlinger and Exequiel Palacios are all ruled out, whilst Daley Sinkgraven is listed as a doubt due to a groin injury.
As for the visitors, defender Waldemar Anton has been ruled out of the trip to the BayArena due to COVID-19.
Pascal Stenzel should deputise for Anton, who is joined on the sidelines by Mohamed Sankoh, Nikolas Nartey, Lilian Egloff and Jordan Meyer.
Omar Marmoush is a welcome return to the squad though, with the Egyptian forward returning from representing his country at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Frimpong, Tah, Hincapie, Bakker; Andrich, Demirbay; Bellarabi, Wirtz, Diaby; Schick
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Muller; Stenzel, Mavropanos, Ito; Massimo, Endo, Mangala, Sosa; Fuhrich, Marmoush; Kalajdzic
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Stuttgart
Goals are to be expected at the BayArena on Saturday, with Leverkusen currently in fine goalscoring form but also having the tendency to leak a goal as well, with no clean sheets in their last 11 games.
The hosts should have far too much quality for their struggling visitors though, so we are expecting a comfortable win for Leverkusen by a multiple-goal margin.
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 60.54%. A draw had a probability of 20.1% and a win for Stuttgart had a probability of 19.39%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayer Leverkusen win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.78%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.45%) and 1-0 (7.77%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.99%), while for a Stuttgart win it was 1-2 (5.2%). The actual scoreline of 4-2 was predicted with a 2.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Bayer Leverkusen would win this match.
