Kasper Hjulmand believes his Bayer Leverkusen side’s upcoming derby against Koln can have big implications for their Bundesliga campaign.

Leverkusen fell to defeats against Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund in their last two league matches, though they also beat the latter in the DFB-Pokal before a 2-2 draw with Newcastle United in the Champions League.

However, their poor form in the league has left them in fourth and six points behind second-placed RB Leipzig, who they face in their final league game before the winter break.

Another loss could see Leverkusen drop down to seventh by the end of the weekend, but Hjulmand wants to see his side make a strong finish to the calendar year.

“We know what we're up against with Koln,” he said.

“They may be a promoted team but they're very attacking and want to have a lot of possession. They also switch play quickly and try to get in behind the defence.

“The respect for them is there, but obviously we want to play our game and win. It's a derby and also very important for the table.

“A win would help us to travel to Leipzig next week and start the new year in a good position.”

Koln are eighth in the Bundesliga, but a poor run of form has cancelled out a good start from the newly promoted side.

They are winless in their last four league games and have won just twice in eight top-flight matches since the start of October.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bayer Leverkusen – Patrik Schick

Schick was substituted off at half-time during Leverkusen’s draw with Newcastle with a knock, but the striker is set to be fit for the derby.

The 29-year-old has scored five goals and provided two assists in 11 league games for Leverkusen this season.

Koln – Said El Mala

With six goals, Koln's El Mala is the joint-most prolific teenager in this Bundesliga season, alongside Yan Diomande.

Only Lukas Podolski (18y 325d) was younger than El Mala (19y 102d) when scoring his sixth Bundesliga goal for Koln. Additionally, El Mala has the most dribbles (8.3) and touches in the opposition’s box (9.6) per 90 minutes in this season's Bundesliga (min. 300 minutes).

MATCH PREDICTION – BAYER LEVERKUSEN WIN

Leverkusen have a 61% win rate against Koln in all competitions this century, with only Eintracht Frankfurt (62%) having a higher figure in that period (minimum 30 meetings).

The Werkself have lost just one of their last 23 Bundesliga matches against newly promoted sides – a 2-1 home defeat to Arminia Bielefeld in March 2021 under Peter Bosz.

Since then, Leverkusen are unbeaten in 16 consecutive games against promoted teams (W12 D4), which is their club record, and only Leipzig have a longer current run in the league (38).

Koln have dropped 10 points from winning positions in the Bundesliga this season, with only Wolfsburg (12) having dropped more.

However, opponents Leverkusen have lost all four of their games after going behind in the Bundesliga this season – Union Berlin and Augsburg are the only other sides yet to pick up a single point from a losing position.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Bayer Leverkusen – 58.4%

Draw – 20.7%

Koln – 20.8%