Bayer Leverkusen host Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Both sides suffered defeat on the opening day last weekend, so they will be looking to quickly bounce back.

Match preview

Indeed, after comfortably bagging a top-four spot last season, it has not been the best start to the campaign for Leverkusen.

Having been stunned 4-3 by third tier outfit SV Elversberg in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, Gerardo Seoane's side sunk to a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund last weekend.

In fairness to Die Werkself, they were extremely unfortunate to lose a game in which they arguably created the better chances. Marco Reus scrambled the ball over the line after Karim Adeyemi's effort in the 10th minute, but Patrik Schick would have left the field kicking himself having twice been thwarted by Gregor Kobel from close range.

To compound matters for Seoane and his team, first-choice goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky received a red card in injury-time for handling the ball outside of his penalty area and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in the process.

A bad day at the office in terms of the outcome in Dortmund, then, but there was plenty of encouragement to be taken from Leverkusen's performance ahead of their very winnable upcoming home match against Augsburg.

Having flirted with relegation in each of the last four seasons, Augsburg's 4-0 thumping at the hands of Freiburg last weekend will not have eased fans' concerns that this campaign could be another long, difficult one.

In truth, Fuggerstadter have punched above their weight to compete in the Bundesliga for 12 successive seasons now, having never previously competed in Germany's top tier before gaining promotion in 2011.

This summer, the club snatched Enrico Maaßen from his role as Dortmund's second-team manager, hoping that the 38-year-old can improve the team's playing style with results naturally following suit after a bedding in period.

However, if their second-half collapse at home to Freiburg last weekend is anything to go by, that period could last for a significant amount of time. Christian Streich's more direct approach visibly ruffled their opponents' feathers, with two set-piece goals and target man Michael Gregoritsch's towering header doing significant damage before Ritsu Doan's late strike added gloss to their resounding victory.

Maaßen will demand a much stronger showing from his side in Leverkusen this Saturday, even if another defeat is the most likely outcome.

Team News

Andrey Lunev will start in goal for the hosts, with Hradecky serving a one-match suspension after his dismissal against Dortmund.

Florian Wirtz is unlikely to return from his cruciate ligament rupture for at least another month, so Seoane may hand Sardar Azmoun a start behind Schick having only utilised the Iranian from the substitutes' bench last time out.

With Robert Andrich a doubt after picking up a knock in the defeat, Kerem Demirbay may drop deeper in midfield, while new signing Adam Hlozek should make his first league start in place of Karim Bellarabi.

Augsburg, meanwhile, have several injury concerns, with Lukas Petkov (ankle), Niklas Dorsch (foot), Ruben Vargas (muscle), Reece Oxford, Tobias Strobl and Joel Sarenren Bazee (all knee) all unlikely to travel.

Despite his side's heavy defeat, Maaßen may surprise some by making very few changes to his starting XI, especially with his options so restricted.

The one exception may be replacing Andre Hahn with Florian Niederlechner in attack in order to provide a more direct option, with the visitors likely to have long spells without possession.

Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Lunez; Frimpong, Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Palacios, Demirbay; Diaby, Azmoun, Hlozek; Schick

Augsburg possible starting lineup:
Gikiewicz; Bauer, Gouweleeuw, Uduokhai; Caligiuri, Maier, Gruezo, Rexhbecaj, Iago; Niederlechner, Demirovic

We say: Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 Augsburg

We can only envisage a comfortable home victory for Leverkusen, especially with a couple of attacking changes likely to provide them with a boost.

The visitors were desperately poor in the second half of their 4-0 defeat to Freiburg, whereas Leverkusen were unfortunate in defeat against Dortmund.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Previews by email