Bayer Leverkusen vs. VfB Stuttgart preview: Heavyweights clash under the lights | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen have well and truly left their poor Bundesliga start in the past, with Kasper Hjulmand's side occupying third place in the Bundesliga. 

After Erik ten Hag was sacked after just two matches, Hjulmand reverted to basics at the BayArena - seeing Leverkusen lose just three times in the league, while booking their DFB-Pokal quarter final place in December via a win against Borussia Dortmund.

Die Werkself would secure a huge win going into the winter break, with goals from Martin Terrier, Patrick Schick and Montrell Culbreath sealing a 3-1 triumph against RB Leipzig - leapfrogging the hosts to claim third heading into the pause. 

Hjulmand's side have a difficult week ahead of them, though, with matches against fellow European contenders Stuttgart and Hoffenheim, sandwiching a difficult midweek away trip to Hamburg. 

Team news 

When it comes to the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, Leverkusen have suffered more personnel losses than most, with Ibrahim Maza, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Christian Kofane all on duty with Algeria, Morocco and Cameroon respectively.

Ernest Poku and Exequiel Palacios are expected to return later this month, after suffering from injuries to the hamstring and groin.

Predicted lineup - 3-4-2-1: Flekken - Andrich, Bade, Belocian - Arthur, Fernandez, Garcia, Grimaldo - Tillman, Tella - Schick

VfB Stuttgart

Stuttgart come into the new year after an impressive start to the campaign, leaving them sitting in sixth, though they will feel as if they missed the chance to climb into the top four last time out, had they turned the 0-0 draw against Hoffenheim into a win.

Die Schwaben reacted perfectly to the 5-0 loss against Bayern Munich last month, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv by four goals to one, and Werder Bremen by four goals to nil within the space of a week, before the goalless draw against their neighbours. 

Though Stuttgart simply have to avoid a similar run of form to last year's Rückrunde, which saw VfB drop out of the European places entirely, before securing Europa League football via their DFB-Pokal win. 

Team news

Bilal El Khannouss is the only Stuttgart man away at AFCON, but Sebastian Hoeneß's side makes the trip to Leverkusen amidst an ongoing defensive crisis. 

Hoeneß confirmed in his Thursday press conference that Finn Jeltsch, Juca Jaquez, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Ameen Al Dakhil and Lorenz Assignon will all be out for the time being - leaving him extremely short of options at the back. 

Alongside this, Lazar Jovanovic and Tiago Tomas are both expected to return later this month, with the latter suffering from similar issues to the ones that plagued him during the latter stages of 2025. 

On a more positive note, Ermedin Demirovic could be in contention for minutes on Saturday.

Predicted lineup - 4-3-3: Nübel - Vagnoman, Chabot, Hendriks, Mittelstädt - Karazor, Stiller, Nartey - Leweling, Undav, Führich