Last season’s champions and runners up will meet for the first time in the Bundesliga this season as Bayer Leverkusen host Stuttgart at BayArena on Friday night.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen side are currently in third place in the Bundesliga and are now five points behind the league leaders Bayern Munich after drawing 2-2 with Werder Bremen last week.
Leverkusen have now dropped points four times in the league so far this season, with three draws and one loss.
Last season they only dropped points six times throughout the whole campaign and remained unbeaten all season.
On Wednesday, Leverkusen secured a 3-0 win in the DFB-Pokal to take them through to the third round in which all three goals were scored before the 36th minute.
Alonso has expressed his thoughts on what he believes will be a very competitive game as the two sides will now meet for the fifth time in just eleven months.
“The last matches against Stuttgart were all very exciting, intense and emotional. Not just for the fans and the players but also for us as coaches. I was always really exhausted after the last matches against them.”
Their opponents come into this fixture after a 2-0 win over Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal and also gained a 2-1 victory over Holstein Kiel the week before in the Bundesliga.
Sebastian Hoeness’s side are currently placed eighth in the league table.
Results have been mixed so far for Stuttgart this season, but they have managed to find some form recently, including an impressive 1-0 victory away at Juventus in the Champions League.
Team News
Unavailable players for Leverkusen are Amine Adli (broken leg) and Jeanuel Belocian, who has undergone a minor operation this week after persistent ankle problems.
Stuttgart have several absentees which include centre-backs Dan-Axel Zagadou, who will be missing until February, and Jeff Chabot who is suspended.
Luca Raimond and Yannik Keitel are also missing through injury.
Justin Diehl and Leonidas Stergiou are also doubts for the match.
GGFN | Matthew Gritton
