It's fourth vs ninth in the Bundesliga this Saturday as Bayer Leverkusen welcome VFL Wolfsburg to the Bay Arena with both teams hoping to avoid a scare.
Leverkusen will come into the match off the back of a disappointing two-goal draw to SC Freiburg as well as a disappointing exit from the DFB Pokal after being knocked out by Karlsruher.
Leverkusen know that they need to win in order to consolidate their grip on the final champions league place with Union Berlin and RB Leipzig chasing them down ferociously.
Meanwhile, Wolfsburg come into the match off the back of a bad two-goal to nil defeat against Freiburg which means they find themselves sitting in ninth place despite having such a good start to the season.
Wolfsburg will know that they need a win to get their season back on track with them still having the possibility to qualify for Europe because they are only three points behind Union Berlin and four behind their weekend opponents.
Team News
Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane has a lengthy injury list ahead of the weekend. Charles Aranguiz, Julian Baumgartlinger, Karim Bellarabi, Moussa Diaby, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, and Patrick Schick while Piero Hincapie is also a doubt for Saturday.
Wolfsburg coach Florian Kohfeldt has also got a substantial injury list ahead of the match at the weekend. Bartosz Bialek, Admir Mehmedi, Jérôme Roussillon, Xaver Schlage, William are all definitely set to miss out while Daniel Ginczek, Felix Nmecha, Aster Vranckx, Luca Waldschmidt and Wout Weghorst.
Predicted lineups
Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky, Frimpong, Kossounou, Tah, Bakker, Andrich, Demiraby, Adli, Wirtz, Paulinho, Alario
VFL Wolfsburg: Casteels, Mbabu, Lacroix, Brooks, Otavio, Guilavogui, Arnold, Baku, Phillip, Steffen, L. Nmecha
Players to watch
After first-choice striker Patric Schick injured himself against Koln it will be up to backup striker Lucas Alario to try and help fill the void temporarily until Schick recovers from injury.
Alario had a decent season last year managing to score 11 goals in 25 matches last season as well as getting three assists to help ensure that Leverkusen qualified for Europe.
Leverkusen will be hoping that Alario can convert the chances he gets on Saturday in order to help them win the match.
With dutch talisman Wout Weghorst set to miss out on Saturday Wolfsburg will be relying on Lukas Nmecha to try and fill the void up front, however, it will be difficult for him because Wolfsburg have only scored nine goals in nine matches.
However, Nmecha had a good goalscoring record whilst he was on loan at RSC Anderlecht last season managing to get 14 goals in 31 matches as well as three assists.
Wolfsburg will be hoping Nmecha can find his form this Saturday and help them find a way to get a win against Leverkusen.
Last time out
The last time these two faced each other Wolfsburg managed to get a narrow one-goal win thanks to a goal from Ridle Baku.
The match started at a quick pace with Leverkusen getting on the front foot quickly. The first chance came in the sixth minute when Nadiem Amiri hit a shot wide of the left-hand side of the goal. Wolfsburg got their first chance two minutes later when Renato Steffen's left-footed shot from the left-hand side of the box nearly crept into the goal.
The match then settled down a little. Then in the 29th minute, Florian Wirtz had a shot from the center of the box which was brilliantly saved by the Wolfsburg keeper.
However, when it looked like Leverkusen were starting to dominate, in the 36th minute Wolfsburg managed out of seemingly nowhere to grab a goal and go in front. Steffen did brilliantly in the Leverkusen final third before lifting a through ball onto the head of Ridle Baku who sent it into the top right-hand corner of the goal.
The second half started at a much slower pace with both teams giving away cheap fouls and free kicks. The first major chance came in the 53rd minute Weghorst's header was saved by Lukas Hradecky following a cross from Kevin Mbabu.
Leverkusen had a great chance to try and level the match late in the second half however they squandered it. Daley Sinkgraven received the ball on the edge of the box, in plenty of space however, he hit his shot straight down the throat of Koen Casteels.
How to watch
Unfortunately, the match will not be broadcast live in the UK however fans in the US can catch the game on ESPN +.