Opponents update: Werkself visit counter kings of the league

After six games without defeat, Hamburger SV's unbeaten run came to an end on Sunday with a 2-1 loss at home to RB Leipzig, their first defeat of the second half of the season. The hosts made a lively start at the sold-out Volksparkstadion and took the lead through Fabio Vieira in the 22nd minute - HSV's tenth counter-attack goal of the campaign. However, the visitors managed to turn the game around in their favour, and deservedly so, as the Hamburg players admitted afterwards. "We have to be honest enough to accept it's a deserved defeat," said midfielder Nicolai Remberg. "For some reason our energy wasn't what it usually is. We had to do a lot of defending against a technically strong side with a lot of quality in the wide areas, and that took some of the power out of our play going forward." Goalkeeper Daniel Heuer Fernandes, who saved a penalty from Romulo with the score at 2-1, also criticised his team's overall display. "We weren't at our best, and that's just not enough."

HSV coach Merlin Polzin congratulated his Leipzig counterpart Ole Werner "on a deserved win", and saw a lack of "tension and clarity" in his own team after taking the lead. "The other team were superior to us in many areas, which is also down to their individual quality. We didn't manage to utilise the Volksparkstadion and be more forceful - neither in the course of the second half nor in the closing stages, when we took more risk. Looking at it quite objectively, it wasn't a good performance by us. We want to do better on Wednesday."

key player Muheim suspended

That's when the Werkself are the visitors to the Volksparkstadion, for the first Bundesliga meeting between Leverkusen and Hamburg in eight years. Polzin, the youngest coach in the German top flight at 35, will have to make a number of changes for the rearranged match. Vice-captain Nicolas Capaldo was forced off early against Leipzig and replaced in the three-man defence by Warmed Omari, who's likely to start against Bayer 04. One player who'll definitely be absent for the first time this season is left wing-back Miro Muheim, who's suspended after collecting his fifth yellow card against Leipzig. Muheim has featured in every game for HSV so far this term, starting all but one of them, and has set up the most attempts on goal for his side, with four of them leading to goals.

However, Polzin is not short of replacements. "I've constantly stressed that we're well equipped," said the Hamburg native. "Especially with regards to the wide positions, we have three or four players who can play there. It will depend on our approach, whether we want to set up more offensively or defensively." Midfielder Bakery Jatta, who missed the match against Leipzig because of illness, could be an option. January signing Albert Grönbaek (thigh injury) and Alexander Rössing-Lelesiit (syndesmosis tear) remain sidelined.

'special week' for polzin

Polzin spoke of a "special week" ahead of the three matches against Leipzig, Bayer 04 and VfL Wolfsburg. The third home defeat of the season against RB saw 11th-placed HSV's gap from the relegation play-off place shrink to four points. It goes without saying that the Red Shorts want to get back to their usual strong form at home against the Werkself. They've produced some impressive performances at the Volksparkstadion this season, particularly against top clubs such as FC Bayern Munich (2-2), Borussia Dortmund (1-1), Eintracht Frankfurt (1-1) and VfB Stuttgart (2-1). Indeed, five of Hamburg's six victories in this campaign have come at home.

HSV have been in decent form overall so far this year, losing just two of their eight matches in 2026. The Hanseatic club are particularly strong in transition: with 10 goals on the break, they're the counter kings of the league. The most dangerous attacking players for the Red Shorts are Vieira (4 goals/4 assists) as well as Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer (4/1), Rayan Philippe (5/0) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (4/0). The Werkself also need to have an eye on centre-back Luka Vuskovic - the 19-year-old Croatian has found the net four times this season.

defensively solid

The clash against the Black-and-Reds is likely to be a highly intense one, as it features the two teams who boast the best tackling stats in the Bundesliga after Stuttgart. HSV are pretty solid in defence, with only six teams in the division conceding fewer goals than Polzin's men (34). The best counter-attacking team are much less vulnerable to the counter themselves (just one goal conceded) and hardly concede anything from set pieces either - eight goals in this category puts them second in the league. That said, Hamburg have not had much success from their own dead balls so far. They've scored just six goals from set pieces - the joint-lowest in the Bundesliga together with 1. FC Köln.