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.
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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