The occasion is less a big barbecue in Leverkusen and more a case of matchday 30 in the Bundesliga. And from a Werkself perspective, this provides a wonderful opportunity for the Black and Reds to take three points from FC Nürnberg on Easter Saturday (15.30 CET, live text commentary and web radio in German at bayer04.de). Read on for 04 facts on #B04FCN to get in the mood for the weekend. Enjoy.
It's obvious that Bayer 04 are not keen on remembering the rain-affected match earlier in the season when the Werkself ended up with just one point in spite of clearly being the superior side. That 1-1 draw marked the end of a run of five victories in the top flight against FC Nürnberg (with an impressive 14 goals for and two against). Annoying! The weather forecast for Saturday is less likely to favour the more defensive side under coach Boris Schlommers (born in Leverkusen incidentally). In contrast to the quick passing game of the Werkself. Or so it seems. It's clear that FCN are one of the favourite opponents for the Werkself. Bayer 04 are on the verge of victory number 26 in Bundesliga against the Franconians – and that in the 52nd fixture between the two clubs. It would also be win number 16 in the 26th home game.
Relegation battle. At FC Nürnberg, that concept is at least as common as the race for promotion. Three points separate the record relegated team from the south from the play-off spot and there is a nine-point gap to safety. The ninth relegation to the second division is around the corner and everyone at the former record champions is aware of that. At least they now know how to defend themselves: After the victory over Augsburg, FCN picked up two draws against Stuttgart and Schalke 04 and that means in the last three games they have earned the same number of points as in the previous 20 matches. The Franconian's have found it particularly difficult on the road: This season's newcomers have only picked up three draws (and eleven defeats) away from home and that is the worst record in the league.
The Bosz team finally got back to winning ways against VfB Stuttgart after three defeats in succession. And that with a clean sheet, which proved to be a great source of pleasure for Lukas Hradecky. The Werkself number one had to pick the ball out of his net 13 times in the previous four games. That was definitely too many. The 1-0 against VfB was the eighth clean sheet for the Finland goalkeeper this term – That means he has not conceded equally as often as Dortmund's Roman Bürki. Well done! Only Leipzig (15 times) Hoffenheim (11) and Bayern Munich (10) have more clean sheets than the Werkself (eight). Time to extend that number.
At the open training session on Tuesday, the young spectators called out most for Kai Havertz. And that is also completely logical as everybody is talking about the shooting star at the moment: The 19-year-old has scored 13 goals so far this season in the league and has provided four assists. Last weekend he was the match-winner with a converted penalty. It was the sixth time this season that the Werkself number 29 (as in the earlier meeting with FCN) has scored the opening goal – that is the second highest number in the league behind Hoffenheim's Andrej Kramaric. And talking about set pieces. The Werkself have scored 04 of their last five goals from dead balls (one each from a corner and a free kick and two from the penalty spot). Only Kevin Volland's equaliser against Hoffenheim came from open play. Overall, the Black and Reds have already scored eight times from set pieces in 2019 – only FC Bayern have netted more often (9). And it fits in really well that Nürnberg have conceded four of their last seven goals from dead balls.
Match information:
Previous meeting: 1-1 (A)
Referee: Guido Winkmann (Kerken)
Weather forecast: 25 degrees, predominantly sunny
Live TV broadcaster: Sky
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