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Floundering Bayer Leverkusen welcome Freiburg to the BayArena on Sunday, as they look to revive their Bundesliga campaign following a tough month.
Leverkusen have had a difficult start to 2021, and the latest heartbreak came in the Europa League. Trailing 4-3 from the first leg of their Round of 32 tie against Swiss club BSC Young Boys, Leverkusen lost 2-0 at home in the second leg to bow out of the competition.
Peter Bosz's side have only managed two points from their last two league games as well. After a 2-2 draw against Mainz a fortnight ago, they only managed a 1-1 draw against Augsburg.
Even that was a hard-earned draw. Florian Niederlechner gave Augsburg an early lead in that game, following which Leverkusen huffed and puffed. Eventually, they rescued a point thanks to Edmond Tapsoba's goal in the 94th minute.
Freiburg have not won their last two league games either, and have picked up just a solitary point from those games - against Union Berlin and Werder Bremen.
After a goalless draw against Bremen a fortnight ago, Freiburg lost 1-0 to Union Berlin at home last weekend. Grischa Promel scored the only goal of that game for the visitors.
Currently, Freiburg are ninth in Bundesliga with 31 points from 22 games, six points less than Bayer Leverkusen who are fifth.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg Head-to-Head
Leverkusen have beaten Freiburg on 19 of the last 35 occasions in which the two sides have faced each other, while losing only six times in that period.
They won 4-2 in the reverse fixture earlier this season, with Lucas Alario scoring twice for the Werkself in that match.
Bayer Leverkusen form guide: L-D-L-D-W
Freiburg form guide: L-D-W-L-W
Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg Team News
Bayer Leverkusen
Moussa Diaby is suspended after picking up five yellow cards for the season.
Lars Bender, Lukas Hradecky, Julian Baumgartlinger, Santiago Arias and Paulinho are still on the treatment table and not in contention to play this game.
Injured: Lars Bender, Lukas Hradecky, Julian Baumgartlinger, Santiago Arias, Paulinho
Suspended: Moussa Diaby
Freiburg
Mark Flekken and Kwon Chang-hoon will miss this game for Freiburg, due to injury concerns.
Injured: Mark Flekken, Kwon Chang-hoon
Suspended: None
Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg Predicted XIs
Bayer Leverkusen Predicted XI (4-3-3): Niklas Lomb; Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba, Wendell; Florian Wirtz, Charles Aranguiz, Kerem Demirbay; Leon Bailey, Lucas Alario, Demarai Gray
Freiburg Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Florian Muller; Jonathan Schmid, Philipp Lienhart, Manuel Gulde, Christian Günter; Baptiste Santamaria, Nicolas Hofler; Roland Sallai, Vincenzo Grifo; Lucas Holer, Ermedin Demirovic
Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg Prediction
Both sides don't really have momentum on their side at the moment, so this is not an easy game to call. However, Leverkusen will be desperate for a reaction to their shocking European exit in the week. Hence, we are predicting a home win in this game.
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Freiburg
