Preview: Bayer Leverkusen vs. FC Koln - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, have collected just one point from their opening six matches to sit rock-bottom, making this a crucial match at both ends of the table.

Match preview

Having considerably improved following Xabi Alonso's appointment as manager a little over a year ago, Leverkusen appear to be primed for a title challenge under the Spaniard this season, with five wins and a draw against the reigning champions Bayern Munich seeing them prop up the rest of the Bundesliga ahead of this weekend's action.

With Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig all playing on Saturday and sitting within three points of Leverkusen, that situation could change prior to Die Werkself's home game against Koln on Sunday afternoon, but their destiny is within their own hands regardless for now.

Since drawing 2-2 away to Bayern, when Leverkusen showed great spirit to come from behind on two occasions at the Allianz Arena, Alonso's side have racked up comfortable three-goal margin victories against Heidenheim and Mainz 05, while also swatting aside Hacken and Molde in the Europa League to get off to a perfect start in that competition.

On current form, there is no reason why Leverkusen can not challenge on all three fronts throughout the campaign, but Alonso will be keen to keep his players' collective feet on the ground to help ensure their winning run continues as long as possible.

Koln, on the other hand, have endured a miserable opening period to the season, with Steffen Baumgart's side's 1-1 draw away to Eintracht Frankfurt at the beginning of September remaining their only point gained.

Five defeats from six matches means they will travel to Leverkusen at the foot of the table after Mainz 05 moved above them by gaining a point away to Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday evening.

The Billy Goats' latest loss came in the form of a 2-0 defeat at home to high-flying Stuttgart last weekend, with former Brighton & Hove Albion striker Deniz Undav coming off the bench to score a brace for the visitors, who on balance probably just about deserved their victory.

Koln, of course, are starting to forget what winning feels like having failed to do so since their opening match of the season against second tier outfit Vfl Osnabruck in the opening round of the DFB-Pokal, and their chances of ending that winless streak away to the most in-form team in Germany on Sunday appear to be extremely slim.

Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga form:

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Bayer Leverkusen form (all competitions):

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FC Koln Bundesliga form:

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Team News

Leverkusen will remain without Arthur, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Patrik Schick due to injury, with Alonso hoping to have the trio available for selection once again after the upcoming international break.

Victor Boniface, who signed from Union Saint-Gilloise during the summer transfer window, has filled Schick's boots in attack admirably well, scoring six goals in six league games. He will lead the line in what is likely to be an unchanged starting XI from last weekend's win against Mainz.

Koln, meanwhile, will travel without Eric Martel, Jan Thielmann, Noah Katterbach, Mathias Olesen, Mark Uth and Florian Dietz due to injury, while Benno Schmitz is also a doubt due to a muscle strain.

As such, Baumgart's options to help turn the tide are more limited than he would like, but he will almost certainly sacrifice forward Steffen Tigges for a midfield player given the difficulty of his side's upcoming fixture.

Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:

Hráadecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Hofmann, Wirtz; Boniface

FC Koln possible starting lineup:

Schwabe; Carstensen, Hubers, Chabot, Paqarada; Huseinbasic, Ljubicic, Christensen; Maina, Selke, Kainz

We say: Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 FC Koln

Despite having had significantly less rest time than Koln due to their European involvements on Thursday evening, we expect Leverkusen to head into the upcoming international break at the top of the table by recording a comfortable win on Sunday.

Koln's dreadful form so far this season has been slightly surprising given that they have been a solid outfit since Baumgart's appointment over two years ago, but they appear set for a difficult campaign this time around, which is in stark contrast to their high-flying opponents under Alonso.

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