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Bayer Leverkusen ready for surprising Hoffenheim

Fri 29th, August 2008

Leverkusen, Germany (Sports Network) - Bayer Leverkusen manager Bruno Labbadia has been impressed by newly promoted Hoffenheim, but the surprising Bundesliga leaders will not pick up points Saturday, according to the coach.

"They will pick up points but not on Saturday," Labbadia said. "It will be hard work but we are Bayer Leverkusen and we are at home."

Leverkusen dropped its opener to Borussia Dortmund but rebounded with a 2-0 win at Stuttgart last week. Bayer will try build on that win at the BayArena.

"Obviously, it was great to pick up three points but also the way we played. We carried on a lot of things from the Dortmund game but with more determination," Labbadia said.

Bayer will be without defender Gonzalo Castro, who joins a growing injury list with a torn muscle.

"It's a bitter blow, especially after he played so well against Stuttgart. But there's nothing we can do about it so we'll have to get on with it," Labbadia said.

Leverkusen has two goals in each of its first two games, but no player has more than one goal. Vedad Ibisevic leads Hoffenheim with three of its four goals.

Hoffenheim is the only team in the league with two wins in its first two games, but those matches were against survivor Energie, which was just five points out of the drop zone last season, and newly promoted Monchengladbach.

Despite the relatively easy opponents, Labbadia believes Hoffenheim has enough quality to be a strong club in the Bundesliga.

"The club has built a great base and sensational structures," he said. "On the one hand this is due to finance but also due to excellent staff."

Hoffenheim also has injury concerns with Andreas Ibertsberger and Chinedu Obasi expected to miss the match.

On Friday, Milivoje Novakovic and Sergiu Radu scored in the second half as Koln defeated Karlsruhe, 2-0, to win its first of the season. Koln had a draw and a loss in its first two matches in its return to the Bundesliga.

Also Saturday, unbeaten Schalke hosts Bochum, winless Monchengladbach hosts Werder Bremen, unbeaten Wolfsburg hosts Eintracht, Arminia Bielefeld hosts unbeaten Hamburg and Energie hosts unbeaten Borussia Dortmund.

On Sunday, defending champions Bayern Munich will try to get its first win when it hosts unbeaten Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart hosts Hannover.

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