Hoeneß guarantees starts for Touré and Chase against Leverkusen | OneFootball

Malian striker El Bial Touré will be given a chance to hunt for his third league goal of the campaign with a start against defending Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Friday evening. Photo: Christian Kaspar-Bartke, Getty Images

Malian striker El Bilal Touré will definitely be in the starting lineup for tomorrow's VfB Stuttgart fixture against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. VfB trainer Sebastian Hoeneß relayed this information while speaking at his Thursday pre-match press conference. Touré started over Eremdin Demirovic in last Saturday's Bundesliga match against Kiel, notching his second league goal of the campaign in the process.

Touré - very much in Hoeneß' good graces after scoring the winning goal against Juventus in the Champions' League - remained unused off the bench in Tuesday's Pokal victory over 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Hoeneß also confirmed that, just like in the Pokal, Anrie Chase and Anthony Rouault will serve as the starting center back duo. Jeff Chabot (also carrying an injury) remains unavailable due to suspension anyway.

‘Elbi’ will play," Hoeneß said, "He has earned that 100 percent. He is in very good form, is fresh and well rested and can cause problems for any defense with the way he plays, including Leverkusen's. He is agile, fast, good on the ball. These are the things we will need.”