Overview
After being eliminated from the Champions League, Bayer Leverkusen's remaining goal this season is to defend the Bundesliga championship. However, this is also a very difficult task as Leverkusen is currently 6 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
After 26 rounds, the home team at BayArena won 16, drew 8 and lost only 2. With 59 goals, Leverkusen is also the second best attack in the league (after Bayern with 75 goals).
Although they have not maintained the destructive form of last season, Leverkusen's performance in the Bundesliga is still at a good level. These figures are even more impressive when compared to their opponent in the upcoming match, Bochum.
In the last 15 meetings, Leverkusen have won 8, drawn 4, and Bochum have won 3 matches. Leverkusen average 2.27 goals/match, while Bochum have conceded 2.04 goals/match. Before being defeated by Werder Bremen, Leverkusen had gone through a series of 11 unbeaten matches at home, including 8 wins.
On the other hand, Bochum have only won 6 points in away matches in the Bundesliga this season.
The above statistics show the difference in class between the reigning Bundesliga champions and their opponents. It would be no surprise if Leverkusen won all 3 points in the upcoming match to continue the championship race with Bayern.
Patrik Schick is certainly one of the players who made the most of his time with the national team, scoring 3 goals in 2 matches of the Czech Republic.
On a personal level, Schick is having one of his best seasons with Bayer Leverkusen with 17 Bundesliga goals and a total of 22 goals in all competitions.
It should also be noted that Schick has scored a total of 5 goals against Bochum in recent seasons.
Personnel situation
Bochum will almost certainly have the strongest force for this match. On the other side of the front line, Leverkusen will not have the services of Tella, Wirtz, Hermoso, Terrier and Belocian due to injury.
Expected lineup:
Bayer Leverkusen: Kovar, Arthur, Tah, Mukiele, Hincapie, Xhaka, Palacios, Adli, Grimaldo, Frimpong, Schick.
Bochum: Horn, Oermann, Ordets, Medic, Wittek, Passlack, Bero, Sissoko, Krauss, Hofmann, Masouras.
The match between Bayer Leverkusen and Bochum takes place at 2:30 am on March 29 (Vietnam time).
