The German Bundesliga returns this evening. All the top clubs have hired new head coaches, so it could be a highly fascinating campaign. One club that has hired a new boss is Bayer Leverkusen, who have appointed former Young Boys head coach Gerardo Seoane.
Seoane and his new team kick-off their German top-flight campaign with a trip to Union Berlin on Saturday afternoon.
Bayer have not enjoyed that much summer activity in the transfer market, as they have lost highly rated Jamaican winger Leon Bailey. The 24-year-old joined Aston Villa for a fee in the region of £30m.
Their big move in the transfer market was to sign Club Brugge centre-back Odilon Kossounou, while Dutch full-back Mitchell Bakker has also arrived from French giants PSG.
The target will once again be to challenge for a top-four spot after they finished sixth-place last season. They head into the game on the back of two straight friendly wins. The wins will have built up confidence in a squad that ended last season with a poor run of form.
Unlike most of the other teams that finished in the Bundesliga’s top ten last season, Union Berlin will head into the new season with the same head coach in charge, in Urs Fischer.
The experienced Swiss boss has done an outstanding job in Berlin, guiding Union to a seventh-place finish in the table, earning a spot in the inaugural Europa Conference League this season.
While their head coach is the same, it seems to be all change on the playing side. In fact, 14 new players have arrived, while 18 players have left the club.
The biggest signing is former Liverpool forward Taiwo Awoniyi, who spent last season on-loan at the club. The 24-year-old is now a permanent squad member.
Forebet predicts that Bayer Leverkusen will kick off the Seoane era with a victory in a high-scoring encounter.