Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen play host to in-form Schalke in what is the pick of Saturday’s fixtures in German Bundesliga.

Die Werkself didn’t have the best of finishes to the first part of the league campaign, with back to back defeats to Frankfurt and Werder acting as a blow to their Champions League hopes.

And when Sami Hyypia’s side also lost the first match after the winter break to Freiburg, many started wondering whether Bayer would manage to meet pre-season objectives.

Die Werkself, nonetheless, showed some improvement to win league fixtures against Stuttgart and Borussia M’gladbach, but the good run proved short-lived.

With Bayer crashing out of DFB Pokal after losing at home to second division side Kaiserslautern, the team will definitely have something to prove when they host top 4 rivals Schalke on Saturday.

Nevertheless, given their 8-1-1 home record, it is hardly surprising Leverkusen are 2.10 (11/10) favourites to claim maximum points.

Eren Derdiyok is unavailable having picked up a hamstring problem, but Sven Bender should be ok despite suffering a shin injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Leno – Hilbert, Spahic, Toprak, Can – Bender, Rolfes, Castro – Sam, Kiessling, Son.

It was no easy for Schalke to keep their top 4 hopes alive with key player Klaas Jan Huntelaar missing the entire first half of the season and few more important footballers spending some time on the sidelines.

However, the Miners were able to stay close to their top 4 rivals and in turn largely impressed following the winter break.

With The Hunter back to the side, Schalke recorded successive victories over Hamburg, Wolfsburg and Hannover to create a four-point advantage over fifth-placed Borussia M’gladbach.

The Miners will now give their best to try and further improve their qualifying chances with a good result at Bay Arena, and with that in mind, both teams to score bet should be considered at 1.62 (5/8).

Atsuto Uchida was the latest player to move to the infirmary, with youngster Kaan Ayhan expected to deputize at right-back.

Meanwhile, Dennis Aogo, Benedikt Howedes, Jan Kirchhoff, Marco Hoger and Christian Clemens continue to miss out through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Fahrmann – Ayhan, Matip, Santana, Kolasinac – Boateng, Neustadter – Farfan, Meyer, Obasi – Huntelaar.