Contending team Bayer 04 Leverkusen (14-9-6, 48 points) will look to extend its three-game winning run to four as it hosts bottom three squad Eintracht Frankfurt (6-14-9, 27 points) at the BayArena on Saturday, April 16th as the 2015-2016 Bundesliga season slowly winds down to a close.
In their most recent game, Bayer Leverkusen blanked Cologne, 2-0, in a North Rhine-Westphalia derby held at the RheinEnergieStadion on Sunday for their third consecutive win, as per Goal.
Teenage winger Julian Brandt opened the scoring for head coach Roger Schmidt's boys at the 39th minute of the match while Mexico's superstar striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez doubled the lead one minute before the halftime interval to lift the visitors up by two at the break.
The score would stand until the full time whistle, but a slight commotion caused two red cards to be booked, one for each side, during stoppage time. Cologne's Leonardo Bittencourt was called for a straight red for fouling Admir Mehmedi that caused injury while Brazilian defender Wendell was called for a second yellow card.
With the win, Leverkusen held firm onto the no. 4 spot of the league table, which is the fourth and final Champions League berth for next season. The top three teams at the end of the season will automatically qualify in the group stage of Europe's premier club competitions while the fourth-placed squad will advance in the playoff round.
Meanwhile, Eintracht Frankfurt dropped a 0-2 decision to lowly team Hoffenheim at the Commerzbank Arena last Saturday, as reported by ESPN.
After a goalless first half, Die Kraichgauer found the back of Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky's net twice, at the 62nd and 90th minutes, courtesy of one goal apiece from midfielder Nadiem Amiri and forward Mark Uth respectively.
The loss was Frankfurt's second straight and fourth in their last six outings. It was also the fifth winless performance of manager Niko Kovač's squad in their last six matches, which dropped them second-to-the-last in the league table.
With five games left in their current campaign, Eintracht still has a chance for the relegation playoffs to avoid getting demoted to 2. Bundesliga next season.
The predicted result is a 3-1 victory for Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Leno; Jedvaj, Tah, Ramalho, Papadopoulos; Kramer, Yurchenko; Bellarabi, Calhanoglu, Brandt; Hernandez
Eintracht Frankfurt starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Hradecky; Chandler, Abraham, Zambrano, Djakpa; Stendera, Hasebe; Aigner, Kittel, Ben-Hatira; Castaignos