6th placed Bayer Leverkusen will be in confident mood ahead of Saturday’s clash with relegation-threatened Koln at their Bay Arena as they look to cement their place in one of the European spots for next season.
Although recent results have seen a decline in Bayer Leverkusen’s fortunes with the hosts picking up just three wins out of their last nine matches overall in the Bundesliga, the hosts will be confident that they can see off a struggling Koln outfit who are fighting against relegation.
Wins against Stuttgart, M’gladbach and Schalke have maintained Leverkusen’s push for a place in next season’s Europa League.
On the other hand, their Champions League prospects dwindling fast as they trail 4th placed Eintracht Frankfurt by a nine-point margin.
Nevertheless, Bayer Leverkusen have picked up wins on a fairly regular basis to them in the frame for a top six finish and they’ve also won the previous two meetings on the trot against Koln as well.
Leverkusen are expected to be without defence trio Arias, Bender and Fosu-Mensah along with midfielder Baumgartlinger.
Koln look to have a mountain to climb on Saturday when they prepare to face Bayer Leverkusen in their own backyard having failed to win any of their last eight matches overall in the German top flight which has left the visitors sitting in the relegation zone.
Six defeats within this worrying eight-match slump has resulted in Koln sitting second from bottom and three points adrift of third from bottom outfit, Arminia Bielefeld.
Having also lost their last four away matches on the trot, this Saturday’s clash doesn’t bode well for Koln.
The visitors have suffered defeats at Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich, Union Berlin and Wolfsburg in what has been a particularly punishing schedule on the road and things aren’t about to get any easier at Bayer Leverkusen either.
The bigger picture shows that Koln have lost six of their last eight matches on their travels and they’ve also managed to keep just two clean sheets away from home all season, so the odds seem to be firmly stacked against the visitors here, especially as Koln have won just four of their last 19 games on the road.
Koln will be without defender Jakobs and midfielder Thielmann as they look to contain their hosts but this could be a tough afternoon at the office for the visitors.