Third meets fourth in the Bundesliga on Wednesday evening, with Bayer Leverkusen hosting Hoffenheim at the BayArena.
The hosts saw their winning streak come to an end with a thumping defeat last time out, whilst the visitors have shot up the table in recent weeks following five wins from their last six outings.
Match preview
© Reuters
With three consecutive Bundesliga victories being recorded prior to the trip to Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday, including a 7-1 hammering of Greuther Furth on the previous weekend, Leverkusen headed to the Commerzbank Arena in high spirits.
After a Patrik Schick double had given Gerardo Seoane's side a two-goal advantage inside 22 minutes as well, Die Werkself had every reason to be confident of cutting the gap to Borussia Dortmund in second to one point, following their draw on Saturday.
However, following two goals being conceded in the seven minutes that followed, as well as three more during a poor second-half display, Seoane witnessed his side being on the receiving end of a 5-2 thrashing, which was in fact their first away defeat of the campaign.
As a result, Leverkusen lost ground on the top two once more, in what is becoming an all too familiar situation this season.
A top four spot is the primary target this season though, with Seoane hoping to guide his young squad into the Champions League after a two-year absence.
An improvement to home form will be required if they are to achieve their aim however, with three defeats already being suffered inside seven home games heading into matchday 16, which the Swiss boss will be hoping to put right over the course of the campaign, beginning on Wednesday.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, spirits could not be much higher at Wednesday's visitors Hoffenheim following an incredible run of form that has seen Sebastian Hoeness' side pick up 15 points from their last 18 on offer.
The only exception in that run was a disappointing 2-0 defeat to an in-form VfL Bochum side on their travels, but a hugely impressive 2-1 win at high-flying Freiburg on Saturday means it is consecutive victories on the road after initially struggling away from home earlier in the campaign.
Chris Richards netted a late winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time at the weekend, after Die Kraichgauer had been pegged back following David Raum's early goal inside three minutes to give the visitors the lead.
As a result of the victory, Hoffenheim leapfrogged their opponents into fourth place in the table, which has now provided fresh hope of an unlikely return to European football, after initial expectations of a dull mid-table season.
Although Hoeness will wish to tighten up defensively following eight goals being conceded across the last five matches, 32 goals being scored at the other end of the pitch in the opening 15 fixtures means his side head into every fixture with great confidence of being able to outscore their opposition.
Even though the last meeting between these sides finished goalless back in April, entertainment should be expected in an open game on Wednesday with both sides in great goalscoring form.
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
The hosts will be without first-choice right-back Jeremie Frimpong on Wednesday, after the young Dutchman picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign.
Panagiotis Retsos should be given a rare opportunity in his place, whilst Julian Baumgartlinger remains absent due to a long-term knee injury.
Fellow long-term absentee Timothy Fosu-Mensah nears a return from injury, but he is unlikely to feature just yet due to a lack of fitness, whilst fellow defender Mitchel Bakker should remain out due to an ankle problem.
As for the visitors, no fresh injury concerns following their win at Freiburg means an unchanged lineup could be named by Hoeness.
He could be tempted by rotation however, due to the final three games before the winter break being squeezed inside one week.
Ermin Bicakcic, Robert Skov and Dennis Geiger are all expected to remain sidelined until the new year, whilst Florian Grillitsch and Jacob Bruun Larsen are nearing returns and could feature from the bench.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Retsos, Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Andrich, Demirbay; Bellarabi, Wirtz, Diaby; Schick
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Posch, Vogt, Richards; Akpoguma, Samassekou, Raum; Bebou, Dabbur, Kramaric
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Hoffenheim
As previously mentioned, an entertaining encounter should be expected at the BayArena on Wednesday, with both sides in strong goalscoring form whilst remaining open at the other end of the pitch too.
It is hard to separate the two, particularly with Hoffenheim in such good form, so as a result, we are predicting this clash in the top four to finish level.
Matthew Tranter
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bayer Leverkusen win with a probability of 55.8%. A win for Hoffenheim had a probability of 23.12% and a draw had a probability of 21.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayer Leverkusen win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.63%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (7.56%) and 1-0 (7.29%). The likeliest Hoffenheim win was 1-2 (5.92%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.29%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 6.1% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-2 draw for this match.
