Defending Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen face a potential title rival in RB Leipzig at the BayArena on Saturday (kick-off: 6.30pm CEST).
Leverkusen were already the team to beat after sailing unbeaten to a Bundesliga and DFB Cup double in 2023/24.
They let slip a 2-0 lead in the opening game of their title defence at local rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach last Friday, only for Florian Wirtz to score a 101st-minute winner that extends the club’s remarkable unbowed run to 35 Bundesliga matches.
That streak stands at a barely fathomable 43 fixtures in all domestic competitions, Xabi Alonso’s charges having also got the better of VfB Stuttgart in the Supercup and fourth-tier Carl Zeiss Jena in the opening round of the DFB Cup.
Goalkeeeper Lukáš Hrádecký should be fit after missing the Jena win on Wednesday through illness.
Álex Grimaldo, Jeremie Frimpong, Piero Hincapié, Granit Xhaka and Wirtz began the game on the bench, but will almost certainly be rotated back in.
The same goes for Nigerian striker Victor Boniface, who sat that one out through suspension.
Having scored the decisive winning goal in midweek, Jonas Hofmann is expected to keep his place in the starting line-up ahead of Amine Adli and Martin Terrier.
Leipzig travel to the BayArena as one of a handful of pre-season picks as title candidates.
Although Die Roten Bullen finished down in fourth last term, they did manage to push Leverkusen to the very limit in home and away 3-2 defeats, whilst taking points off top-five rivals Stuttgart, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Marco Rose’s team have started brightly enough this time round, recording wins over Essen (4-1) and Bochum (1-0) in the DFB Cup and Bundesliga, respectively.
Debutant Antonio Nusa scored the decisive goal against Bochum after replacing Nicolas Seiwald in the second half, but Rose may be unwilling to sacrifice one of his more defensively minded midfielders to accommodate the Norwegian attacker in the starting line-up against such fearsome opposition as Leverkusen.
The Leipzig boss will be forced into one change, though, with either Benjamin Henrichs or Lukas Klostermann set to replace captain Willi Orbán, who was sent off for two bookable offences on Matchday 1.
Arthur Vermeeren could also have a part to play after completing a season-long loan move from Atlético Madrid on Monday evening.
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