Bayer Leverkusen take on Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday with the hosts looking to bounce back from two successive defeats.
Bremen, meanwhile, have lost five of their last six games themselves to slip to 14th position in the table.
Match preview
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Having had the chance to end 2020 top of the Bundesliga, Robert Lewandowski's last-minute winner for Bayern Munich against Leverkusen saw Peter Bosz's side slip to second in the table prior to the winter break.
Travelling to Eintracht Frankfurt without several first-team defenders was never going to be an easy task, either, with the hosts running out 2-1 winners on Saturday to leave Leverkusen five points behind league leaders Bayern.
Bosz will have been especially disappointed with the defeat given that his side took an early lead through superb combination play between teenage sensation Florian Wirtz and Nadiem Amiri, with Wirtz's deliciously-scooped through-ball finding Amiri in the opposition penalty area. The Germany international skilfully swivelled with the ball before back-heeling it past a helpless Kevin Trapp.
However, Leverkusen's defensive deficiencies showed, with Daichi Kamada causing no end of problems with his trademark third-man runs. Amin Younes displayed excellent composure to score his first goal for the club since joining on loan, but the midfielder should have had two after Kamada superbly found him on the edge of the area. Another accurate Kamada cutback led to Edmond Tapsoba turning the ball into his own net, with Martin Hinteregger's sliced clearance hitting his own post the closest that Leverkusen came to salvaging a point.
With four successive games against top-half opposition following the home game against Bremen on Saturday, Bosz will be imploring his side to earn themselves a routine win in order to keep the pressure on Bayern and RB Leipzig at the top of the table.
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Florian Kohfeldt will be counting his lucky stars that teenage debutant Eren Dinkci struck late on to earn a narrow victory against relegation rivals Mainz 05 prior to the winter break, otherwise his side would be deeply embroiled in another relegation battle this season.
Bremen are a long way from being out of trouble, though, as evidenced by their toothless 2-0 defeat at home to Union Berlin on Saturday. Despite trailing from the 12th minute, Kohfeldt's side mustered only two shots on target throughout the game, with Dinkci surprisingly not even among the substitutes.
Taiwo Awoniyi, on loan from Liverpool, and Sheraldo Becker proved too hot for Bremen's defence to handle, with the pair combining for both first-half goals and almost a third on the break in the second half. First Becker fiercely struck from outside of the area, before a dreadful piece of defending by Marco Friedl allowed Robert Andrich to expertly guide the ball into Awoniyi's path, with the forward scuffing the ball past Jiri Pavlenka.
Kohfeldt will be grateful that top goalscorer Niclas Fullkrug has recovered from injury, with the forward making an appearance from the bench in defeat, but his side will need to display much more creativity in order for him to flourish to his full capabilities.
Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga form: DWWWLL
Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions): WWWWLL
Werder Bremen Bundesliga form: LLLLWL
Werder Bremen form (all competitions): LLLWWL
Team News
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Leverkusen remain without long-term absentees Paulinho, Santiago Arias and Exequiel Palacios for the visit of Bremen.
Charles Aranguiz, Sven Bender and Karim Bellarabi are unlikely to recover from injury in time, meanwhile, with Wendell out due to coronavirus.
Bremen, meanwhile, are without Nick Woltemade and Kevin Mohwald due to sickness, while Milot Rashica is still recovering from a hamstring injury.
Kohfeldt will carefully consider whether Fullkrug is ready to start; slowly building his match fitness up ahead of potentially more winnable fixtures is surely an option, but the temptation to throw him into the side will definitely be there, too.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Bender, Tah, Tapsoba, Weiser; Wirtz, Baumgartlinger, Amiri; Bailey, Schick, Diaby
Werder Bremen possible starting lineup:
Pavlenka; Gebre-Selassie, Toprak, Friedl, Augustinsson; Eggestein, Gross; Schmid, Osako, Bittencourt; Sargent
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Werder Bremen
We expect Leverkusen to return to winning ways on Saturday against a Bremen side currently devoid of confidence, although it is unlikely to be as comfortable as many may expect.
Should the likes of Patrik Schick and Moussa Diaby fire on all cylinders, though, it is difficult to see Bremen being able to gain a positive result.
