Bayer Leverkusen took a step forward in their performance in their win over Hamburg, so says Kasper Hjulmand.

Leverkusen beat Hamburg 1-0 on Wednesday, with Christian Kofane grabbing the decisive goal midway through the second half.

The victory leaves Leverkusen in sixth heading into the weekend, two points off the Bundesliga's top four.

Leverkusen take on Freiburg, who sit eighth, but 10 points behind Hjulmand's team, on Saturday, and the Dane feels they are in a good place after their display in midweek.

"We took a step forward in Hamburg, especially in terms of our performance," Hjulmand said ahead of the trip to Europa Park Stadion, where Freiburg are unbeaten in 16 games.

After the win over Hamburg, Hjulmand said his team must be more clinical with their finishing.

Leverkusen had five big chances, while they also struck the woodwork once, and had 36 touches in the opposition box, compared to Hamburg having just 16 going the other way, but failed to capitalise fully on chances worth 1.89 expected goals (xG).

And he echoed the sentiment again.

"We want to be proactive again, get a win and take the next step," Hjulmand added.

"It will be important for us to be more clinical in front of goal and win games earlier."

Janis Blaswich has started in Leverkusen's last seven Bundesliga matches, conceding only four goals in those games.

Blaswich has saved 85% of shots faced in the Bundesliga this season, which is the best rate of all goalkeepers in the 2025-26 campaign.

With Blaswich seemingly first choice ahead of Mark Flekken, Hjulmand has a strong contingent of goalkeepers to choose from.

"It's very good for the team and the club that it's a difficult decision for me as a coach," he said.

"Mark is a great keeper, Janis as well. Our goalkeepers give the team so much positivity. That's how it should be and that's the only way success is possible."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Freiburg - Igor Matanovic

Matanovic has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last four Bundesliga home games (three goals, one assist), his longest such run in the competition – he has also scored five of his six top-flight goals this season at home.

Bayer Leverkusen - Christian Kofane

Kofane has been directly involved in Leverkusen's last two Bundesliga goals (an assist against Mainz to make it 1-1, and a goal against HSV to make it 1-0), and he could now register a goal involvement in three consecutive Bundesliga matches for the first time.

Ibrahim Maza assisted his last two Bundesliga goals.

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Freiburg are winless in their last six Bundesliga matches against Leverkusen (D2 L4); a seven-game winless run would equal their longest such streak against the Werkself (last recorded between 2017 and 2020).

They have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 14 Bundesliga meetings with Leverkusen, with their last coming in October 2018 (0-0).

Freiburg have recorded four consecutive home wins in the Bundesliga under Julian Schuster for the first time – they last achieved this in October-November 2022 (also four).

Only once before have Freiburg enjoyed a longer winning streak in front of their home fans within a Bundesliga season, in 1994-95.

In fact, Freiburg are unbeaten in their last ten home matches in the Bundesliga (W7 D3) – the longest current run in the league. This is their longest home run in the competition since August 2022 to April 2023 (12 games). 

Leverkusen have lost just one of their last seven Bundesliga matches (W4 D2), a 0-1 defeat to Union Berlin on MD23. In these seven games, the Werkself have conceded only four goals – the joint-best record in the league during this period.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Freiburg - 33.9%

Draw - 27.2%

Leverkusen - 38.9%