TSG Hoffenheim have not lost more home games in the Bundesliga against any other club than Bayer 04 (eight as with Bayern Munich). TSG have only let in more goals at home against Borussia Mönchengladbach (28) than against the Werkself (26).
German professional football is paying tribute to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The German Football League (DFL) have recommended a minute's silence at fixtures in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 on the current matchday. The victims of the earthquake will also be remembered today ahead of kick-off at the PreZero Arena.
The Werkself goalkeeping coach David Thiel suffered a muscular injury in training and – as with the warm-up for the goalkeepers at today's game including Lukas Hradecky – he will have the support of Jan Conradi (goalkeeper coordinator at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre).
Last weekend's 5-2 defeat at VfL Bochum caused consternation amongst many people involved with TSG. "For some inexplicable reason, we weren't at it for the whole game and this negative run has to finally come to an end," said goalkeeper Oliver Baumann after the tenth match without a win. Hoffenheim stalwart Sebastian Rudy was equally baffled: "I don't know what we've done here. We give away goals, lose challenges and mess up our games." Eight defeats, two draws: That is the sobering return for TSG since the middle of October 2022. With the introduction of experienced winter signings and a new head coach in the dugout, TSG will be looking for a change of fortune in the home game against Bayer 04. Here is the profile of today’s opponents.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Tobias Stieler as the referee for today's game in Sinsheim. This will be the 25th match involving the Werkself with the 41-year-old in charge. Stieler will be assisted by Christian Gittelmann and Philipp Hüwe plus Tobias Welz as the VAR.
As usual, anybody unable to be at today's game can tune in to Werkself Radio. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann. The latest information can also be gained from live text updates to ensure you don't miss any of the action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text updates can be found bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app .
One of the longest serving players at the Werkself celebrates his birthday today: Jonathan Tah, at Leverkusen since 2015, is now 27 years old. The Hamburg-born defender has made an impressive 283 appearances (8 goals, 11 assists) for Bayer 04 and Tah has played in every Bundesliga match this term. Many happy returns, Jona!
Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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A boost for the second Bundesliga away game in a row: The Werkself take on SC Freiburg just three days after the convincing 1-0 win at Hamburger SV. Ahead of the game on Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the lessons learned from the rearranged fixture at HSV, a trio on yellow cards and young players like Christian Kofane and Montrell Culbreath.
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SC Freiburg suffered their eighth away defeat of the season in Frankfurt last weekend. But at home, at the Europa Park Stadion, coach Julian Schuster's team are clocking up one win after the next. SCF are unbeaten in the last 16 matches at home. On Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), they will be looking to keep the run going in the clash with the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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For the third time in a row, the Leverkusen eSports players have made it through to the final round of the VBL Club Championship. From 7 to 8 March, they will compete for the German Club Championship at XPERION in Hamburg. At the start of the final round, they face Hamburger SV in the Round of 16. The match starts at 19:30 CET on Saturday, 7 March and will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. The eSports preview.
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