Bayer Leverkusen will continue their victory lap in the 2023-24 Bundesliga season when they take on fellow high-flyers Stuttgart at BayArena on Saturday evening.
Despite having already secured the Meisterschale, the league champions cannot slack off just yet as they are still on course to become the first team to go through an entire Bundesliga campaign without defeat.
Match preview
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Bayer Leverkusen required a dramatic late goal from Josip Stanisic to salvage a 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund last weekend, extending their remarkable unbeaten run to 45 consecutive matches across all competitions.
Their focus for the remainder of the campaign will now be to seize as many records as possible and maintain their form for upcoming cup competitions, but they face another formidable opponent this weekend in Stuttgart, who manager Xabi Alonso will know he cannot take lightly.
The upcoming match will mark the third encounter between the two teams this season. They previously drew 1-1 on Matchday 14, and in early February, they faced off in a dramatic DFB-Pokal quarter-final in which Leverkusen emerged victorious after Jonathan Tah scored in the 90th minute.
If Leverkusen go on to win all of their remaining four league games, they will accumulate the highest number of points ever in a Bundesliga season (92) and surpass the current record of 91 points set by Bayern Munich during their treble-winning season of 2012-13.
Die Werkself are now returning to the BayArena, where they have done their best work this season, winning each of their last nine matches across all competitions, including that commanding 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen in their previous fixture which saw them lift their first-ever league title.
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Meanwhile, Stuttgart are also enjoying incredible success this season and similar to Leverkusen, they enter gameweek 31 exactly 30 points better off than their tally in the entire of the 2022-23 campaign.
However, Die Roten are coming into this match on the back of a defeat, having suffered a 2-1 loss against Werder Bremen in their previous Bundesliga fixture. They found themselves trailing by two goals before Deniz Undav scored a consolation goal midway through the second half.
That result marked the first loss in 10 matches for Sebastian Hoeness's side, who now sit three points behind second-placed Bayern Munich and hold a four-point advantage over fourth-placed RB Leipzig.
While Stuttgart are assured of European football next season, which will mark their return to continental competition after more than a decade, securing only a Europa League spot would likely be seen as a disappointment, considering they have been involved in the top-four battle for the majority of the season.
The visitors have done well on the road this term, evidenced by a recent run of five consecutive away victories prior to last week's defeat. However, they have found it difficult against teams at the top of the table, as seen in their 5-1 loss at RB Leipzig and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich earlier in the campaign.
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Team News
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Alonso will have to navigate the absence of midfield anchor Granit Xhaka, who is suspended for one match due to an accumulation of yellow cards, while Adam Hlozek remains sidelined with a muscle injury.
Borja Iglesias is also out due to a muscle injury, but apart from these absences, the coach has a full squad at his disposal. With Xhaka unavailable, Exequiel Palacios is the most likely to return to the midfield.
Serhou Guirassy and Deniz Undav have forged the most potent attacking partnership in the league this season, combining for an impressive total of 42 goals between them and the pair will be hoping to add to that tally in this one.
Angelo Stiller's suspension means he will miss the trip to Leverkusen, potentially prompting a formation change to a back four. Josha Vagnoman, Samuele di Benedetto, Dan-Axel Zagadou and Nikolas Nartey are also sidelined due to injury.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Stanisic, Tah, Tabsoba; Tella, Palacios, Andrich, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Adli; Boniface
Stuttgart possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Stenzel, Anton, Ito, Mittelstadt; Leweling, Karazor, Dahoud, Fuhrich; Undav, Guirassy
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Stuttgart
Matches between these two sides have been very tightly contested in recent times, and we are expecting the same here, with both searching for victory, albeit for different reasons. However, Leverkusen have been a cut above the rest this term, particularly at home, and we feel they will come out on top in this clash of the heavyweights.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.