Bayer Leverkusen vs Heidenheim

At the risk of letting the Bundesliga crown change owners, defending champions Bayer Leverkusen entertain out-of-sorts Heidenheim in a must-win clash at the BayArena.

Bayer Leverkusen’s title-defending Bundesliga campaign hit a new low just before the international break as they slipped to a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Bochum despite taking an early lead. After winning all 28 matches when breaking the deadlock in 2023/24, Xabi Alonso’s men have already dropped points from winning positions five times this season (D4, L1). As a result, they’ve endured the worst start to a title-defending campaign in the Bundesliga for over a decade with 17 points from their ten games, allowing table-topping Bayern Munich to create a handsome nine-point lead at the summit. Defensive vulnerabilities have often been Leverkusen’s undoing this term, with ‘Die Werkself’ failing to keep a clean sheet in nine of their ten top-flight fixtures, conceding an average of 1.8 goals per home match!

Meanwhile, the international break would’ve been welcomed by visiting Heidenheim as they’ve lost four of their last five league games (D1), including a 3-1 home defeat to Wolfsburg in their most recent top-flight outing. Frank Schmidt’s men are on the precipice of equalling their longest winless streak in their short top-flight history, an unwanted feat they can ill-afford to achieve, considering they sit only two points clear of the bottom three. However, the visitors have proved a thorn in everyone’s side since earning their top-flight status in 2023, going unbeaten in 15 of their last 20 Bundesliga away matches (W9, D6). However, they ended up empty-handed in both league H2Hs in 2023/24 (L2).