Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. (Photo : Getty Images)
Contending club Bayer Leverkusen (3-3-1, 10 points) will look to redeem themselves from their lackluster performance in the previous round as they meet surprise team TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (3-0-4, 13 points) on Oct. 22, Saturday at their home field of BayArena.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 9:30 a.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Bayer Leverkusen's three-game unbeaten run was snapped by lowly club Werder Bremen, 1-2, at the Weser-Stadion last Saturday, as per BBC Sport.
Bremen's Austrian midfielder Zlatko Junuzovic scored the opening goal of the contest in the 13th minute with a left-footed shot from the center of the penalty area to the bottom right corner of Bayer goalkeeper Bernd Leno's net.
Turkish attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu was able to level the count 14 minutes later with a header from a cross by teammate Kevin Kampl.
However, Die Werderaner took the lead once again with a goal from Gambian striker Ousman Manneh a minute before the hour-mark of the match.
Head coach Roger Schmidt's side was not able to find the equalizer for the remainder of the game as they fell to their third loss in the season.
With the loss, Bayer dropped to the 10th place in the overall standings, three points away from the final Europa League qualifying berth for next season currently held by Hoffenheim.
Meanwhile, Hoffenheim is a surprise in the first seven rounds as they are up to the sixth spot of the league table.
The team is currently on a three-game winning streak and had been unbeaten in their last six matches.
Die Kraichgauer is coming off a 2-1 victory over newly-promoted side SC Freiburg at their home ground of Wirsol Rhein-Neckar-Arena also last Saturday, ESPN reported.
Hoffenheim striker Sandro Wagner opened the scoring in the 34th minute as the team started strongly from the kickoff.
Freiburg equalized in the 77th with a goal from forward Florian Niederlechner, but the hosts hit the winning goal four minutes later with a converted spot kick from Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-0 upset victory by Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Leno; Henrichs, Tah, Toprak, Wendell; Brandt, Aranguiz, Kampl, Calhanoglu; Volland, Hernandez
Hoffenheim starting lineup (3-1-4-2 formation): Baumann; Sule, Vogt, Hubner; Rudy; Toljan, Demirbay, Rupp, Kaderabek; Wagner, Kramaric
