Bayer Leverkusen’s slim Bundesliga title hopes rest on taking all three points when they face relegation-threatened Heidenheim at Voith-Arena on Saturday.
| Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie with referee Harm Osmers during his sides DFB-Pokal clash against Arminia Bielefeld. | Christof koepsel/Getty images |
Heidenheim come into the game off the back of a 1-0 victory over Wolfsburg last Saturday, with Frank Schmidt’s men securing back-to-back Bundesliga wins for the first time since late August.
Their recent clean sheet was the team’s first in 13 games, and their four goals across their last two matches equals their total from the five before that.
Heidenheim are just three points off safety but remain only two ahead of Bochum, who occupy the final automatic relegation position.
They defeated Holstein Kiel 3-1 in their most recent home fixture, but that result came amid a run of 10 defeats in their last 13 matches at Voith-Arena.
Team News
Midfielders Julian Niehues and Thomas Leon Keller are unavailable, so Jan Schöppner and Niklas Dorsch may continue in midfield.
Patrick Mainka, Benedikt Gimber and Marnon Busch are likely to form a back three, while Adrian Beck could start in support of forwards Marvin Pieringer and Maximilian Breunig.
Budu Zivzivadze and Mathias Honsak remain sidelined.
Bayer Leverkusen
The visitors are second in the table with 59 points, six behind leaders Bayern München, with Leverkusen continuing to pile on the pressure last time out after beating Bochum.
However, they suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to third-tier Arminia Bielefeld in the DFB-Pokal semi-final on Wednesday, leaving Xabi Alonso’s side under pressure to perform and bounce back this weekend.
The defeat extended their run of games without a clean sheet to seven, during which they have conceded 13 goals.
Die Werkself came from 2-0 down to beat Heidenheim 5-2 in the reverse fixture on November 23 but have now lost four of their last six matches in all competitions, matching their number of defeats from their previous 39 outings.
Their away form has dipped slightly with two defeats in their last three on the road, although they remain unbeaten in their last 30 Bundesliga away matches, winning 22 of those.
Team News
Defensive absences include Edmond Tapsoba, Jeanuel Belocian and Mario Hermoso. As such, Alonso is expected to start Nordi Mukiele, Jonathan Tah and Piero Hincapie at the back.
In midfield, Granit Xhaka and Robert Andrich are likely to start in a double pivot, with Exequiel Palacios out with a groin injury.
Florian Wirtz is nearing a return but may not be fit for Saturday, while Martin Terrier has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
That means the attacking trio could feature Patrick Schick, Aleix Garcia and Amine Adli.
