Bayer Leverkusen will take on Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday, 21 September with the hosts back in with a fighting chance of retaining their league title.
In recent weeks, Xabi Alonso's men have closed the gap on Bayern Munich from nine points to four and won't want to give any of those back before the winter break.
Freiburg will be far from easy opponents on Saturday and a win from them here would see them move to within two points of Leverkusen.
How the bookies view it: The hosts go in as odds-on favourites
Despite just five points separating these two teams in the Bundesliga table, the bookies feel that this should be a comfortable evening for Bayer Leverkusen. BoyleSports have priced a home win as short as 4/11 while a victory for Freiburg has been priced at 6/1. The draw, which would be a better result for the visitors, has been priced at 15/4.
Recent head-to-head: Advantage Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen have enjoyed facing Freiburg in recent times with Die Werkself winning three of the last five encounters between the two teams. Freiburg's most recent victory over Bayer Leverkusen came in September 2022 but interestingly, this was at the BayArena so they won't be too overawed about playing at Leverkusen's home.
Players to watch: Wirtz is starting to purr
Florian Wirtz was the Bundesliga player of the year last season and after getting off to a relatively slow start this time around, the 21-year-old is starting to show just why he is so highly regarded in Germany.
Wirtz is one of the best playmakers in world football and he has been creating plenty of chances and goals in recent weeks as Leverkusen have moved into second position in Germany's top flight. The attacking midfielder has registered two goals and three assists in his last five league appearances and will be the man that Freiburg fear most on Saturday.
Freiburg will have little choice but to fight fire with fire at the BayArena, such is the way that the hosts set up. They will therefore need Ristu Doan to be at his very best. The Japanese winger has scored one goal and provided two assists in his last four appearances.
Predicted line-ups
Bayer Leverkusen's injury woes are beginning to clear with just two players, Amine Adli and Jonas Hofmann, definitely out. Victor Boniface will also face a late fitness test. Freiburg will be without Daniel-Kofi Kyereh who is out until February and second-choice goalkeeper, Florian Muller.
Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky – Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie – Frimpong, Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo – Tella, Wirtz, Schick
Freiburg: Atubolu – Kubler, Ginter, Lienhart, Gunter – Osterhage, Eggestein – Doan, Holer, Grifo – Gregoritsch
Anything else catch the eye?
Over the past 18 months, Bayer Leverkusen have typically been the team you sit down and watch if you want to watch an end-to-end football match with chances and goals at both ends. However, in recent weeks, Alonso has stripped them back and they are now far more solid.
Fewer than four goals have been scored in each of Leverkusen's last five matches in all competitions and under 3.5 goals has been priced at 1/2 by BoyleSports.
This German Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Freiburg will be played on Dec 21, 2024 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
