Bayer Leverkusen entertain Hoffenheim on Sunday with the hosts potentially having the opportunity to move top of the table if Union Berlin avoid defeat to current league leaders Bayern Munich.
The visitors, meanwhile, ended a run of seven winless games by beating Augsburg 3-1 last weekend.
Match preview
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It has been a superb start to the season for Leverkusen, who remain one of only two unbeaten sides in the Bundesliga after the opening 10 games.
Last weekend's 3-0 victory at Schalke 04 was their sixth league win in seven matches, taking Peter Bosz's side to second in the table. They were helped out by Malick Thiaw's hapless own goal in the 10th minute, with only Leon Bailey's profligacy after being superbly played through on goal by Aleksandar Dragovic preventing Leverkusen from extending their lead prior to the break.
Julian Baumgartlinger pulled the strings in midfield magnificently once more, stinging the hands of opposing goalkeeper Michael Langer from distance before giving his side a two-goal cushion with a near-post header from the ensuing corner.
Bosz was given a scare when his side conceded a penalty late on, but Lukas Hradecky made the sixth penalty save of his Bundesliga career to deny Steven Skrzybski, before Patrik Schick wrapped up the three points with a fine left-footed strike from the edge of the area.
After overtaking Slavia Prague to finish as group winners in Group C of the Europa League by beating the Czech Republic outfit 4-0 on Thursday, attentions can now be fully focused on chasing Bayern down at the top of the Bundesliga.
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Like their forthcoming opponents, Hoffenheim also secured top spot in their Europa League group by beating Gent 4-1 on Thursday.
Buoyed by qualifying for the knockout stages of European competition for the first time in the club's history, Sebastian Hoeness will be hoping his side can build on last weekend's comfortable victory over Augsburg and quickly move into the top half of the table.
Christoph Baumgartner and Florian Grillitsch were both in fine form in midfield for Hoffenheim throughout the win, with the latter bagging a brace. He was teed up by a superb cross by his midfield partner for the opener, before a superb solo goal restored Hoffenheim's lead after Daniel Caligiuri had levelled proceedings with a powerful header before the break.
Grillitsch flicked the ball behind his head and the defender marking him, too, before swivelling and calmly placing the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot. Ihlas Bebou initiated and finished a lightning counter-attack to wrap up the three points, with Hoeness hoping for another victory on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga form: WWWWDW
Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions): WWDWWW
Hoffenheim Bundesliga form: DLLDDW
Hoffenheim form (all competitions): DWDDWW
Team News
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Leverkusen's recent record is made all the more impressive by the amount of absentees Bosz has, with Exequiel Palacios (back), Santiago Arias (fibula), Paulinho (knee), Kerem Demirbay (coronavirus), Sven Bender and Charles Aranguiz (both muscle) all out for the visit of Hoffenheim.
Top goalscorer Lucas Alario remains a doubt after missing the last two matches, with Schick slowly getting to his best after suffering from injury himself this season.
Hoffenheim have a lengthy injury list, too, with Ermin Bicakcic (knee), Kostas Stafylidis (shoulder), Benjamin Hubner (joint) and Pavel Kaderabek (calf) all unavailable for the trip to Leverkusen.
Sargis Adamyan, Jacob Larsen and Ishak Belfodil (all fitness) also remain doubts for the visitors.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Bender, Tah, Dragovic, Sinkgraven; Baumgartlinger, Wirtz, Amiri; Bailey, Schick, Diaby
Hoffenheim possible starting lineup:
Baumann; Posch, Vogt, Nordtveit, Sessegnon; Samassekou, Rudy, Baumgartner, Grillitsch; Kramaric, Bebou
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Hoffenheim
We can definitely envisage an entertaining encounter on Sunday, with Hoffenheim possessing the counter-attacking tools to hurt Leverkusen in transition.
However, the hosts are playing with great confidence at present; if they play as they have been of late, they should have just about enough to earn another win.
Top betting tip
Brett Curtis
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 46.16%. A win for Hoffenheim had a probability of 30.45% and a draw had a probability of 23.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bayer Leverkusen win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.24%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.74%) and 2-0 (6.73%). The likeliest Hoffenheim win was 1-2 (7.3%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.62%). The actual scoreline of 4-1 was predicted with a 2.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bayer Leverkusen would win this match.
