Both teams are without a key midfielder due to suspension. World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios will sit this one out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. Bochum are without their second-best goalscorer in Kevin Stöger for the same reason.
The history books show that the Werkself have won 19 of their 28 Bundesliga home meetings with the Ruhr club (D4, L5) and have scored in each of the last 19. It is the club’s best ongoing scoring run at home to a current Bundesliga opponent. The average over the 28 games is 1.9 Leverkusen goals.
Bochum are battling to stay in the Bundesliga once again this season after surviving the drop in the last two years. Their record so far this term is 16 points from 15 games, placing them 14th in the table, six points above the automatic relegation spots. The Ruhr club’s strengths are in the air, where they are joint leaders in the division for challenges won with 409. However, their accuracy with the ball at their feet is the worst in the league at only 74.9 percent. Bochum have conceded 29 goals to the Werkself’s 12, which is the fewest of all teams. You can find out more about today’s opponents in our profile piece.
On the grounds surrounding the BayArena, there are numerous Christmas activities for young and old today, including a children's carousel (see map).
Today's game has once again been declared a district matchday. Over the past few days and weeks, all residents of Küppersteg have been able to enjoy activities organised by and with the Werkself. The highlight was the school visit to the GGS Kerschensteinerschule, including a nutrition workshop in which Bayer 04 players Gustavo Puerta and Verena Wieder also took part. Sports nutrition coach Lena Kadlec led the workshop and explained to the children how important a healthy diet is for recovery, energy levels, health and growth.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast in German begins 30 minutes before kick-off. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available on bayer04.de and in the Bayer 04 app.
Anyone wanting to read key information before the game should take a look at the new Werkself Live. The matchday programme, offering the most important facts and stats on the game in compact form, is available at the BayArena. Alternatively, it is available free online HERE.
The German FA (DFB) have appointed Daniel Schlager as today’s referee. The 34-year-old has previously overseen eight Werkself fixtures, with four wins, two draws and two defeats. His assistants are Sven Waschitzki-Günther and Arno Blos, with Matthias Jöllenbeck as VAR.
Given it’s the final game of the year, we’re inviting fans at the BayArena to stay a few minutes longer than usual after the final whistle. Two Christmas carols will be sung together with the team, backroom staff and fans to enjoy a festive and atmospheric end to the year together. The shuttle buses for the return transfer to the car parks and public transport stations will therefore be running 10 minutes later than usual so that all fans can sing along without worrying about getting home.
Just 11 days after their last encounter in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Women meet Hamburger SV again. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the two teams will be battling it out at the Volksparkstadion for a place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. Coach Roberto Pätzold is aware of his team's status as favourites against the promoted outfit - and knows what it will come down to against the awkward opponents.
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Bayer 04 Women goalkeeper Charlotte Voll has been hit by injury again. The 26-year-old suffered an acromioclavicular joint separation in her left shoulder in the latter stages of the Bundesliga match at SC Freiburg on Monday and is set to be sidelined for a number of months. She underwent successful surgery in Düsseldorf on Friday.
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Like they did in the first showdown of the VBL Club Championship by WOW, which the Leverkusen gamers won in spectacular style, Marc and Sean Landwehr also started the second showdown with six points by beating TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum 1848, last-16 participants of the first showdown. The #B04eSports team suffered defeat to SV Darmstadt 98 and Hertha BSC. Meanwhile, Keanu Senkbeil made his VBL CC debut in the clash with the capital club.
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The Bayer 04 Women will end 2025 with the Bundesliga top match against Bayern Munich on Monday night, 22 December. The schedule for matchdays 12 to 15 has been announced by the German Football Association (DFB). In addition to two away games on Fridays, Leverkusen also have a home game on a Saturday lunchtime.
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The next showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 is here. On their way to the offline round, to be held at the second showdown in Frankfurt am Main on 23 November, six opponents await in the online preliminary round. The #B04eSports team will face the first four this Thursday, 13 November, from 18:00 CET (live on the Bayer 04 app and on Twitch). The lowdown on our opponents.
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