On Wednesday evening in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen host FC Augsburg at the BayArena with both teams looking to bounce back from defeats at the weekend.

Identical starts to the season

So far both teams have identical records in the league after three matchdays with one win and two defeats from their opening fixtures. 

Roger Schmidt's side sit 11th in the table which just isn't acceptable for a team of the stature of Leverkusen who were mooted as dark horses for the title this season.

They began the season with a 2-1 defeat against Borussia Monchengladbach before winning their second game at home to Hamburger SV 3-1. The problem though was that they couldn't back up this victory as they lost once again at the weekend 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt, with Javier Hernandez missing a late penalty which would have levelled the scores.

The hosts will be looking to bounce back from defeat at the weekend | Photo: Getty Images
The hosts will be looking to bounce back from defeat at the weekend | Photo: Alex Grimm / Getty Images

The positive thing for the hosts though is that they are on an impressive run at home winning six in a row in the league dating back to last season, scoring at least two goals in five of these matches.

The visitors have also made a similar start to the season as their hosts, currently occupying 13th place in the league. They began the season with a 2-0 defeat at home to Vfl Wolfsburg before winning their second game 2-1 away at Werder Bremen. Dirk Schuster's side come into this game on the back of a loss though, after they were defeated 3-1 at home by Mainz 05 at the weekend.

Both teams couldn't be separated last season

The corresponding fixture between these sides last season ended in a 1-1 draw. The visitors took an early lead in game when Bernd Leno scored an own goal, before Karim Bellarabi equalised just before half-time as the sides shared the points.

Another positive for the home side is that they have never lost a Bundesliga game to Augsburg and they will be confident that they can extend this record this week.

Team News

In terms of team news ahead of the game, home manager Schmidt will be without winger Bellarabi for the game, who has been ruled out for the rest of 2016 with a thigh injury. 

The good news though is that captain Lars Bender is expected to be fit for the game after recovering from injury which will provide a huge boost to the team. 

Augsburg will also be without two key players for the game due to injuries. Caiuby is out for a long period of time after undergoing an operation this week on his knee and is set to be out for a few months. This means that his place on the wing is set to be taken by either Dong-Won Ji or Raul Bobadilla.

Dominik Kohr is another who will miss the game due to injury. The midfielder was the subject of a terrible challenge in the last league game against Mainz and is set to be out for a few weeks. 

Predicted line-ups

Bayer Leverkusen predicted lineup: (4-2-3-1) Leno; Jedvaj, Tah, Toprak, Henrichs; Baumgartlinger, Kampl; Brandt, Aranguiz, Mehmedi; Hernandez

FC Augsburg predicted lineup: (4-2-3-1) Hitz; Verhaegh, Gouweleeuw, Hinteregger, Stafylidis; Kohr, Baier; Bobadilla, Koo, Ji; Finnbogason 

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