Hoffenheim have only lost more Bundesliga games against Bayern Munich (20) than they have against the Werkself (19), winning only seven of the 32 top-flight encounters to date. Leverkusen have won the last three in a row.
TSG have kicked off the Bundesliga season with a win and a defeat for the third year running, having beaten promoted Holstein Kiel 3-2 at home before a 3-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt. The last two seasons both saw them claim victory on Matchday 3, including against Bayer 04 two years ago.
Leverkusen’s defence will have to keep a very close eye on TSG’s No.27. Andrej Kramaric bagged a hat-trick against Kiel and netted again against Frankfurt. The in-form forward is also joined up front by Adam Hlozek, who swapped the BayArena for the PreZero in the summer. Haris Tabakovic is another new option in attack after finishing as joint-top scorer in Bundesliga 2 in 2023/24. However, Hoffenheim have a number of injury concerns, including vice-captain Grischa Prömel, centre-back Ozan Kabak and forward Ihlas Bebou. Find out more about Hoffenheim in our in-depth analysis.
The Nordkurve12 fan group has called for all supporters making their way to Sinsheim to travel in their Werkself kits. Some 4,000 fans are set to be at the PreZero Arena offering their support, meaning Bayer 04 have used their full allocation of tickets.
To conclude the club’s trophy tour to the USA, Bayer 04 will be hosting a watch party for today’s game at the Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Brooklyn, New York. In the afternoon, the trophies will then be on display at Saturdays Football store on Broome Street, Manhattan, before they and the club’s delegates return to Germany.
The Bayer 04 fan liaison team have put together key information on the away game in Sinsheim for all travelling Werkself fans. Find out more HERE.
The German FA (DFB) have appointed Daniel Schlager as today’s referee. The 34-year-old has previously overseen 10 fixtures involving the Werkself. His assistants are Sven Waschitzki-Günther and Arno Blos. The VAR is Sören Storks.
Werkself Radio is available for anyone unable to be at the game. The German audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep fans up to date on bayer04.de and the Bayer 04 app.
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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