Hjulmand eager for Leverkusen to take advantage of rare week off at Leipzig

Kasper Hjulmand has called on his Bayer Leverkusen players to take full advantage of a rare week off when they face RB Leipzig on Saturday.

Fourth-placed Leverkusen travel to Red Bull Arena sitting three points behind their opponents, who occupy second place in the Bundesliga table behind Bayern Munich.

Leverkusen have had to juggle competing in the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB-Pokal this season, meaning games have come thick and fast.

For the first time since the end of September, however, Hjulmand's side had no midweek game and are therefore fresh for this weekend's clash.

"We made good use of the time," Hjulmand told reporters at his pre-match press conference. "Intensive training on Tuesday was new for us.

"Now we're away full of anticipation, and we'll give everything to get the three points – and then have an even better Christmas. That's our goal."

Saturday's contest in Leipzig marks the final game of 2025 for both sides, in what has been a particularly eventful year for Leverkusen.

Leverkusen sacked Erik ten Hag on September 1, having only hired the Dutchman as Xabi Alonso's successor three months earlier.

Hjulmand's side are fourth in the Bundesliga, while they are 20th in the Champions League standings and into the last eight of the DFB-Pokal.

Asked to sum up the past few months, Hjulmand said: "I think we have played well to be where we are in all competitions.

"We're going from game to game, and we always aim to get the three points. It's another very important game. We're not done yet this year."

Leipzig suffered a 3-1 loss away at Union Berlin last time out and have won just two of their last five Bundesliga matches. 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

RB Leipzig – Tidiam Gomis

Leipzig will be without Yan Diomande as he has joined up with Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving a big void to be filled.

Gomis scored soon after being introduced from the substitutes' bench in last week's loss to Union and could be in line for a rare start.

Bayer Leverkusen – Aleix Garcia

Garcia set up Robert Andrich for Leverkusen's second goal in a 2-0 win over Koln last week, with that his fourth league assist of the season.

That equals Garcia's tally from the whole of the previous campaign, but the Spain international has now gone 20 league games without scoring.

MATCH PREDICTION – RB LEIPZIG WIN

After a previous run of three successive league defeats against Leverkusen, Leipzig took four points from their two meetings last season.

The last four Bundesliga encounters between the pair have seen a total of 19 goals scored at an average of 4.8 per match.

Leipzig may have won just two of their past five league games, but not since 2024 have they lost back-to-back matches in a single season.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

RB Leipzig – 44.5%

Draw – 24.6%

Bayer Leverkusen – 31%