Union Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Bayer Leverkusen looked more like their old selves this past and now they look to build on that, starting here away at Union Berlin.
Kick-off date/time: Saturday 30th November 2024: UK – 2:30pm / US ET – 9:30pm / US PT – 6:30am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Some matches will be televised on ESPN channels so it is worth checking their schedules
How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – ESPN+
Union Berlin Preview: Goals and wins have dried up
Union Berlin are going through a rough patch of form right now and you have to go back to October 20th for their most recent victory away to Holstein Kiel. Since then, Union have played five games in all competitions, failing to win one and not scoring in each of their last four.
A 3-0 defeat away at Bayern Munich was following up by a drab 0-0 draw at home to Freiburg before most recently losing 1-0 against Wolfsburg. They are the only club in the Bundesliga yet to record a double-figure number of goals this season.
Bayer Leverkusen Preview: Back to winning ways in style
It’s been a good week for Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen. A few days after beating Heidenheim by five goals to two, the reigning Bundesliga champions improved on that in the Champions League, thrashing RB Salzburg 5-0 at the BayArena. Now they go out on the road, where they are yet to win since back in September.
Whilst they struggled to gain victories away from home, it’s not been for the lack of trying and a squad of their quality will surely get back on track sooner rather than later. Having secured that pair of home wins over the last seven days and recovered their attacking verve, Leverkusen are well-placed to now kick on.
Union Berlin Team News: Defender Leite unlikely to feature
Union centre-back Diogo Leite is struggling with an ankle injury and this match may well come too soon for him. Goalkeeper Yannic Stein is definitely out and striker Andrej Ilic is also likely to miss the game.
Predicted XI (3-4-3): Ronnow; Doekhi, Vogt, Querfeld; Trimmel, Kemlein, Khedira, Rothe; Haberer, Jordan, Hollerbach
Unavailable: Stein (Injured)
Questionable: Ilic (Injured), Leite (Injured)
Bayer Leverkusen Team News: Change in formation due to injuries
With so many of Xabi Alonso’s attacking wide players missing, a tweak in formation similar to what we saw in midweek could be on the cards again, with Florian Wirtz playing essentially as a second striker alongside Patrik Schick. Wirtz recorded two goals and an assist playing that role against Salzburg on Tuesday.
Predicted XI (3-5-2): Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Tella, Garcia, Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Schick, Wirtz
Unavailable: Adli (Injured), Belocian (Injured), Boniface (Injured), Hofmann (Injured), Terrier (Injured)
Questionable: Mukiele (Injured)
Union Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen Prediction
Bayer Leverkusen may have racked up goals for fun across the week but this game is expected to be a lot tighter. Whilst finding the net has been hard to come by for Union Berlin, they are defensively strong and breaching their backline will not be easy. But with the hosts out of form and perhaps confidence, a positive Bayer Leverkusen should do enough to pick up three points, although under 2.5 goals still has to be favoured.
Union Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen Tip: Bayer Leverkusen to win and under 2.5 goals
