Nathan Tella is a contender to replace the suspended Jeremie Frimpong when runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen entertain luckless Wolfsburg on Sunday (kick-off: 8.30pm CET).
Click here for the Bayer Leverkusen vs. Wolfsburg LIVE blog!
Latest
After Bayern Munich’s 2-2 draw with Freiburg last Friday, Leverkusen moved 10 points clear at the top of the table courtesy of a 2-0 victory away at Cologne two days later. It wasn’t all good news for Die Werkself, however, as Frimpong, a goalscorer alongside Alejandro Grimaldo at the RheinEnergieSTADION, picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign. As a result, he will be unavailable for Wolfsburg‘s visit to the BayArena. Xabi Alonso, at least, has a suitable replacement in Tella, who started the midweek UEFA Europa League draw with Qarabağ as Alonso made eight changes to the team that beat Cologne. Trailing 2-0 at half-time, Alonso needed help from the likes of Frimpong and eventual goalscorers Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick, who climbed off the bench to keep up the club’s unbeaten run. Exequiel Palacios returned as a substiute against Mainz and then started the draw with Qarabağ but Victor Boniface, Leverkusen’s top goalscorer in the league despite missing a third of the campaign, is expected to remain out until April.
While Leverkusen are in dreamland at the table’s summit, Wolfsburg are struggling towards the other end. The eight-point buffer to the relegation play-off spot means they can still breathe relatively easy, but they remain without a victory in 2024 and have prevailed in just one of their previous 13 top-flight outings. Still, they pushed high-flying VfB Stuttgart close as they ultimately succumbed 3-2 last week and drew 1-1 with Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 22, suggesting they have the ability to cause the division’s top sides problems. For this fixture, Niko Kovač will have to make do without the services of Joakim Mæhle, on the scoresheet against Stuttgart, as he sits out the game due to suspension. Jakub Kaminski misses out through illness, while Rogério and Mattias Svanberg are doubts as Die Wölfe look to spring a big surprise. To do so against Leverkusen’s miserly defence – they have conceded a league-low 16 goals this term – Kovač will look to leading goalscorer Jonas Wind and winter signing Kevin Behrens, who opened his Wolfsburg account in the 2-2 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 23.
Watch: Xabi Alonso steering Leverkusen towards title glory
Match stats
- Grimaldo has nine goals and nine assists so far this Bundesliga season, making him Leverkusen’s best player for goal contributions, ahead of the injured Boniface (10 goals, seven assists).
- Leverkusen boast a points-per-game average of 2.67 – a Europe-leading average in 2023/24.
- No team with a 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with 10 games to go has ever failed to win the title.
- Wind is currently 12 Bundesliga matches without a goal. Only one of his nine strikes fell against a team in the current top five (RB Leipzig).
- Wolfsburg have won on four of their last five trips to Leverkusen, and are currently unbeaten in seven at the BayArena.
- Kovač played for Leverkusen, making 77 Bundesliga appearances for the club between 1996 and 1999. His brother and assistant coach, Robert, also played for the club.
Get Tella for your Fantasy team for 10.7M!
Probable teams
Leverkusen: Hrádecký (c) – Kossounou, Tah, Hincapié – Tella, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo – Hofmann, Wirtz – Schick
Out: Arthur (thigh), Boniface (groin), Frimpong (suspended)
Doubtful: –
Coach: Xabi Alonso
Wolfsburg: Casteels – Baku, Lacroix, Jenz, Fischer – Gerhardt, Arnold (c) – Majer, Wind, Paredes – Behrens
Out: Kaminski (illness), Mæhle (suspended)
Doubtful: Rogério (muscular), Svanberg (calf)
Coach: Niko Kovač
Source link
