Bayer Leverkusen vs. Union Berlin preview: Hosts aiming for successive league wins | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen

Kasper Hjulmand has made his team a tough team to beat since taking over the reins from Erik ten Hag at the start of September. The former Denmark boss has overseen two wins and three draws in his first five competitive games in charge, including a narrow 2-1 victory in last Saturday’s away clash with St. Pauli. Edmond Tapsoba and Ernest Poku both found the net in the away success to move their team into sixth place in the Bundesliga table.

Die Werkself would have been frustrated to follow that result with a 1-1 draw in their midweek Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven. Leverkusen’s Christian Kofane broke the deadlock just after the hour mark, only for Ismael Saibari to equalise less than ten minutes later. A second consecutive Champions League draw has left Leverkusen in 25th place, leaving them with work to do in their remaining six league phase matches.

However, they will now quickly turn their focus back to domestic action, as they look to clinch consecutive Bundesliga victories for the first time this season. Die Werkself are also aiming to extend their unbeaten top-flight home record against Union, having won three and drawn three of their previous six head-to-head league meetings at the BayArena.

Team News

Leverkusen defender Axel Tape is set for a spell on the sidelines after being forced off in Wednesday’s draw with PSV. The hosts are also without Exequiel Palacios, Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick.

Predicted lineup: Flekken; Quansah, Badé, Tapsoba; Vázquez, Fernández, García, Grimaldo; Tillman, Poku, Kofane

Union Berlin

Union Berlin are sitting in 11th spot in the Bundesliga table after winning two, drawing one and losing two of their opening five matches. After starting the season with a narrow win over Stuttgart, Union went on to lose back-to-back matches against Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim. Steffen Baumgart’s charges then returned to winning ways with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Die Eisernen were unable to make it back-to-back wins in last Sunday’s home clash with Hamburg, which saw the two teams share the spoils following a goalless draw. They will now head on their travels with hopes of claiming their first-ever Bundesliga away win over Leverkusen. In fact, they have only recorded one victory in 12 top-flight head-to-head meetings, with that solitary win taking place at Stadion An der Alten Försterei in January 2021.

Union will be aiming to make another solid start to proceedings on Saturday, with Baumgart’s side yet to concede in the opening 30 minutes in the Bundesliga this season. With that said, they have experienced a drop-off in the latter stages of their games, having shipped five league goals beyond the 75th minute.

Team News

Union are unable to call upon Josip Juranović and Robert Skov, while Matheo Raab is a doubt due to illness. However, the visitors are hopeful that Stanley Nsoki will be fit to feature in the squad for the first time since arriving from Hoffenheim in the summer.

Predicted lineup: Rønnow; Doekhi, Querfeld, Leite; Trimmel, Khedira, Haberer, Köhn; Burke, Ansah, Ilić