[Football- Germany 'Bundesliga'] 29.4/ 15:30 Union Berlin- Bayer Leverkursen

[MN]

[Football- Germany 'Bundesliga'] 29.4/ 15:30 Union Berlin- Bayer Leverkursen

Both teams are high in the table, and both hope to finish in the top four at the end of the season, giving the right to play in the Champions League. Union in 3rd place with 55 points, Leverkusen in 6th place with 47 points. At the moment, Bayer looks much better, which goes on a series of 13 matches without defeat, including skirmishes in LE where it has already reached the semi-finals. Pharmacists last lost on 19.02 and since then with a balance of 10-3-0 they have not left the field defeated. It was immediately reflected in the position in the table where they recorded a huge jump up.

Four years after securing promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in their history, few would have imagined that Union Berlin would be battling for a top four finish this season. The hosts, although higher in the table, owe this position to a great start to the spring round when they won the first 5 league matches. After that, it was a bit checkered and now you can see that they don't have the strength they had in January or February. Union won the last meeting in Mönchengladbach, but earlier lost in the domestic cup clash with Eintracht, fell in Dortmund and only drew at home with Bochum.
Union Berlin is one of only two Bundesliga teams, along with Bayern Munich, to have yet to lose at home this season, having won 9 and drawn 5 of their 14 matches at Stadion An der Alten Forsterei. The Iron Ones also conceded just nine home goals, fewer than any other team in the division. A win on Saturday would see Union Berlin break last season's top-flight record of 57 points, but a victory against Leverkusen could prove difficult as they only won one of their 10 matches against Leverkusen and it was a low home win 1-0 in January 2021

Both teams have some staffing issues. Union Berlin striker Kevin Behrens has been suspended for one match after being shown his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend, Andras Schafer is struggling with an ankle injury and will be assessed before kick-off. Jordan Siebatcheu is the most likely candidate to replace Behrens and join top scorer Sheraldo Becker up front. Paul Jaeckel is available after serving his one-match ban and will be looking to return to the starting eleven at the expense of Diogo Leite or Danilho Doekhi. As for Leverkusen, Patrick Schick and Andrey Lunev are sidelined with groin and back injuries, while Nadiem Amiri is out due to yellow cards. Edmond Tapsoba and Exequiel Palacios missed the win against Leipzig due to muscle problems, as did Florian Wirtz due to illness, but the trio are ready to return on Saturday and will be considered for the starting line-up. The potential inclusion of centre-back Tapsoba could see that Mitchel Bakker will end up on the bench, with Piero Hincapie moving up from centre-back to left-back, while Wirtz is likely to replace Amine Adli in the advanced midfield role. As you can see, there are several options.

Union Berlin (11) and Leverkusen (15) have conceded the fewest goals in the Bundesliga since the turn of the year, but with both teams scoring in 5 of their last 7 meetings, we can expect an interesting spectacle with goals from both sides. In autumn, on their own ground, the Pharmacists defeated their rival 5:0. Today it may be difficult to get such a result, but still I see them as favorites to win because they have been better than their rivals in recent weeks.

Likely compositions:

Union Berlin
Ronnow; Doekhi, Knoche, Leite; Juranovic, Laidouni, Khedira, Haberer, Roussillon; Becker, Siebatcheu

Bayer Leverkusen
Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Andrich, Palacios, Hincapie; Diaby, Wirtz; Hlozek

2 @2,50 Bwin

FT 0:0