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Fresh off a goalless draw against Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen take on Koln at the Bay Arena.
Both sides have struggled for results in recent weeks and will aim to finish the season strongly, starting with a win on Saturday.
Seated in sixth place in the Bundesliga standings, Bayer Leverkusen have endured a rollercoaster season so far.
Die Werkself had a brilliant start to the campaign, going unbeaten until the final game of 2020, where they lost to Bayern Munich in December.
Since then, they have suffered a disappointing dip in form, suffering eight league defeats and crashing out of both the Europa League and DFB Pokal.
Hannes Wolf’s men ended their two-game winless run with a 2-1 win over struggling Schalke two weeks ago. However, they quickly crashed back to earth as they were held to an uneventful goalless draw against Hoffenheim last time out.
Bayer Leverkusen are just two points behind fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund and could leapfrog the Black and Yellows with a win on Saturday.
Koln have endured a horrid campaign so far. With 23 points from 28 games, the visitors are currently second-bottom in the log and face a serious risk of falling into the second tier.
Die Geißböcke suffered their 15th league defeat of the season when they took on Mainz 05 at the RheinEnergieStadion last time out.
In a five-goal thriller, Luxembourgish midfielder Leandro Barreiro scored a last-gasp winner in the 91st minute to hand Mainz a 3-2 win.
Friedhelm Funkel’s side have now failed to taste victory in their last eight games, picking up just two points in that time.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Koln Head-To-Head
In their last 28 meetings across all competitions, Bayer Leverkusen have picked up 17 wins and six draws. Koln are the underdogs in the fixture, managing just five wins.
Bayer Leverkusen Form Guide: W-L-L-W-D
Koln Form Guide: D-L-D-L-L
Bayer Leverkusen vs Koln Team News
Bayer Leverkusen
There have been no fresh injury woes for the hosts. However, Timothy Fosu-Mensah (ACL), Lars Bender (meniscus), Julian Baumgartlinger (ACL) and Santiago Arias (ankle) are still ruled out due to injuries.
Injured: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Lars Bender, Julian Baumgartlinger, Santiago Arias
Suspended: None
Koln
Koln also have injury concerns heading into Saturday’s clash. Sebastian Andersson, Ismail Jakobs, Kingsley Ehizibue and Jan Thielmann will be unable to feature for the visitors.
Injured: Sebastian Andersson, Ismail Jakobs, Kingsley Ehizibue, Jan Thielmann
Suspended: None
Bayer Leverkusen vs Koln Predicted XI
Bayer Leverkusen Predicted XI (3-5-1-1): Lukas Hradecky, Jonathan Tah, Sven Bender, Edmond Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong, Exequiel Palacios, Kerem Demirbay, Charles Aranguiz, Wendell, Nadiem Amiri, Lucas Alario
Koln Predicted XI (4-4-2): Timo Horn; Kingsley Ehizibue, Jorge Mere, Rafael Czichos, Noah Katterbach; Marius Wolf, Jonas Hector, Ellyes Skhiri, Max Mayer; Ondrej Duda, Dominick Drexler
Bayer Leverkusen vs Koln Prediction
Bayer Leverkusen have struggled for results in recent weeks, but we predict they will secure a win on Saturday as they take on an out-of-sorts Koln side.
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Koln
