Leverkusen, perfect at home, host struggling 15th-placed Stuttgart

📰 Fourth-placed Leverkusen, unbeaten at home, host 15th-placed Stuttgart on Saturday 31 October. 📌 Key points 🏟️ Leverkusen have won all three home league games this season. 📉 Stuttgart have lost five of seven and sit 15th on six points. 🔄 Leverkusen won 5-2 in the cup after a 3-0 loss at Hoffenheim. 🩹 Leverkusen are without Kofane, Terrier and Diaby. ⚽ Schick leads the team with six league goals. 📝 What happened 📉 Leverkusen lost 3-0 at Hoffenheim on 25 October, ending a five-game unbeaten run. Andrej Kramarić scored a 79th-minute penalty after Edmond Tapsoba's foul, Hoffenheim's 1,000th Bundesliga goal. Three days later, Leverkusen came from 2-0 down to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the DFB Cup. 🏟️ According to Goal, Leverkusen are fourth on 13 points and have won all three home league games, scoring eight and conceding one. Patrik Schick leads the attack with six league goals, while Ibrahim Maza has four goal involvements and 17 chances created. 😓 Stuttgart have lost five of seven and have yet to draw. On 23 October they lost 3-2 at home to Mönchengladbach, who had lost their first six, and Sebastian Hoeneß admitted complacency had crept in. They have three points from four away games. 🩹 According to Goal, Leverkusen are without Christian Kofane (thigh), Martin Terrier and Moussa Diaby, while Stuttgart miss Dan-Axel Zagadou and Josha Vagnoman. 📊 By the numbers • Leverkusen: 4th, 13 points (W4 D1 L2) • Stuttgart: 15th, 6 points (W2 L5) • Leverkusen at home: three wins, eight scored, one conceded • Last 31 meetings: Leverkusen 19 wins 👀 What to watch ⚽ Schick's scoring — Can Schick, on six league goals, strike again at home? He is the side's go-to finisher. 🎨 Maza's creativity — With 17 chances created, Maza is key to Leverkusen's attack. Stuttgart have the league's second-highest expected goals against. 🔄 Cup momentum — Carles Martínez needs to carry the 2-0 comeback into the league. 🧩 Goals at both ends — Both teams have scored in eight of the last nine meetings. 🔭 Why it matters A win would keep Leverkusen in the top-four race and put the Hoffenheim defeat behind them. Another defeat would increase the pressure on Hoeneß. The game is on Saturday 31 October at the BayArena, and the DFB Cup last-16 draw is on 1 November.