Hjulmand: Leverkusen rebuild still under construction

Bayer Leverkusen are still in the construction stage of building a competitive team and more time is needed to complete the project, believes new head coach Kasper Hjulmand.

Leverkusen have seen a summer of changes at the club, with many of their domestic double-winning squad departing for pastures new. 

The likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Tah and Granit Xhaka have all left the club, while Xabi Alonso replaced Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid. 

Leverkusen welcomed 17 new faces through the door, while also breaking their club-record transfer fee twice with the signings of Malik Tillman and Jarell Quansah. 

Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag also replaced Alonso. However, the Dutchman's tenure lasted just two league matches after an underwhelming start. 

The Werkself find themselves 11th in the early Bundesliga standings after four games of their season, and travel to Millerntor-Stadion to face fifth-placed St. Pauli this Saturday. 

Hjulmand's tenure has started with a win and a draw in the top-flight, though he insisted that more time was needed for his new-look team to gel. 

"It is a process. We need time, and we need matches, and they are coming," Hjulmand told a press conference on Friday.

"We are very optimistic, and I think we have a great team. We can build an outstanding team, but we are still building it up.

"A lot of new players, new coaches, that's how it is. But in every game we have to get results."

Leverkusen are still finding their feet under Hjulmand, though their underlying statistics for the 2025-26 campaign make for positive reading so far despite their results. 

Indeed, their expected goals against (xGA) tally of 4.5 is the third lowest in the Bundesliga this season, with only Bayern Munich (2.5) and Borussia Dortmund (3.7) ranked lower. 

They have also outperformed their expected goals (xG) total by 1.6 (eight goals scored with 6.4 xG), though both Leverkusen and St. Pauli have found a secret weapon of late. 

Only Bayern (seven) have scored more goals from set pieces in the 2025-26 Bundesliga than Leverkusen (five) and FC St. Pauli (four, level with Freiburg). 

Leverkusen also have the best duel success rate in the league this season (55.3%, level with Freiburg), while FC St. Pauli has the second-lowest (47.2%).

Only Hoffenheim (60) committed more fouls than St. Pauli (57) this term, while the Werkself players have suffered the third-most fouls from their opponents (51).

"We are in a good process," Hjulmand added. "Every single day we train, we play games. It gets better and better.

"A lot of new players, a lot of new positions for some players. They have to get to know each other.

"I think we have a lot of good minutes in the games but we can do better."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

St. Pauli – Nikola Vasilj

Should St. Pauli bounce back from their defeat to Stuttgart, they will have to remain defensively on point, and they should have confidence with Vasilj between the sticks. 

He has saved six of the seven penalties he faced in the Bundesliga – no other goalkeeper in Europe's five major leagues has saved as many spot-kicks since the start of the previous season. Vasilj also historically has the best penalty save rate of any goalkeeper in Bundesliga history (86%).

Bayer Leverkusen – Patrik Schick

Schick has scored more Bundesliga away goals than any other player in the 2025 calendar year (11 in 11 matches). He scored twice in each of his last two Bundesliga away games across all seasons – a club record (along with Kai Havertz and Ulf Kirsten).

The Bundesliga record is three consecutive away games with multiple goals (Robert Lewandowski (twice), Erling Haaland, Gerd Muller, and Rainer Schonwalder).

MATCH PREDICTION: BAYER LEVERKUSEN WIN

St. Pauli are winless in seven Bundesliga matches (D2 L5) since a 3-1 home victory against Leverkusen in 1996. Nevertheless, this weekend's hosts have also not won more against any other team in the top flight (five, also vs Freiburg) than against the Werkself.

However, they have collected four points in their first two home games in this Bundesliga season, a club record in the top-flight, but they come up against a team that are formidable on the road. 

Indeed, Leverkusen are unbeaten in 35 Bundesliga away games (W23 D12), which is currently a league record. After four consecutive away draws, Hjulmand's team could draw five consecutive Bundesliga away games for the second time ever, after 2009.

But there is a soft underbelly to this new-look Leverkusen team. They have won only two of their last 10 Bundesliga matches (D6, L2). Since the start of Matchday 29 of the previous season, only Borussia Monchengladbach (0) has fewer victories among teams that have consistently been in the top flight. 

They have also led in all four Bundesliga matches this season, just like Bayern and Borussia Dortmund. However, Leverkusen have dropped seven points from winning positions, more than any other team.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

St. Pauli – 31.3%

Draw – 26.1%

Bayer Leverkusen – 42.6%