Bayer Leverkusen vs. SC Freiburg preview: Werkself look to recover from European hammering | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen

“We feel great pain in our bodies. We are hurt. But we have to shake it off and look forward. We were too open and thought too much offensively – without balance,” said Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand, following his side's heavy 7-2 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The Champions League loss against the Parisians brought the Dane's unbeaten run as Leverkusen boss to an end, leaving Die Werkself sitting 30th in the league phase standings with just two points on the board. 

Domestically, though, things are going well for the hosts, with Leverkusen unbeaten since the arrival of Hjulmand after just two Bundesliga matches. 

His side climbed to fifth in the standings after a 4-3 win against Mainz last weekend, and will aim to continue their good form against a Freiburg side that also played in Europe this week.

Team News

Leverkusen's injury list is long, with Jarell Quansah, Patrik Schick, Axel Tape-Kobrissa, Lucas Vasquez, Exequiel Palacios, Nathan Tella and Malik Tillman all missing, leaving Hjulmand light in all areas of the pitch. 

The returns of Quansah and Schick, though, should come sooner rather than later, with the pair expected back in action within the coming weeks.

Predicted lineup - 3-4-2-1: Flekken - Andrich, Bade, Tapsoba - Arthur, Fernandez, Garcia, Grimaldo - Echeverri, Poku - Kofane

Freiburg

As with Leverkusen, it took until the season's first international break for Freiburg to begin firing on all cylinders, and they now carry an unbeaten record since picking up their first win of the season in September - a 3-1 triumph over Baden-Württemberg rivals Stuttgart. 

Die Breisgauer have drawn their last three Bundesliga matches, with their most recent coming against Eintracht Frankfurt as a result of a fantastic second-half free-kick from Vincenzo Grifo.

They followed this up with a 2-0 win against Dutch outfit FC Utrecht in the Europa League - extending their unbeaten run in Europe to three. 

Julian Schuster's men will aim for all three points on their travels, bringing their drawing run to an end. 

Team News

Daniel-Kofi Kyereh remains out until mid-October for Freiburg, alongside Cyriaque Irie and Florian Müller.

More crucial absentees for Schuster are those of Niklas Beste and Patrick Osterhage, with the former a doubt due to a hip injury after suffering a minor injury in training, before playing just one half against Utrecht. 

It was confirmed that midfield general Osterhage will be absent for the coming weeks, after continuing to struggle with a muscle injury that has been plaguing him since August. 

Johan Manzambi could drop into a deeper role as a result.

Predicted lineup - 4-2-3-1: Atubolu - Treu, Ginter, Lienhart, Makengo - Manzambi, Eggestein - Beste, Höler, Scherhant - Adamu