Overview
- Head coach Horst Steffen confirmed Marco Friedl is out with a knee injury for Saturday's home match against Bayer Leverkusen.
- Steffen said 18-year-old Karim Coulibaly is set for his first Bundesliga start after debuting off the bench in Frankfurt.
- Recent loan signing Yukinari Sugawara has a chance to feature and could start after strong training impressions, according to Steffen.
- Several other defenders remain unavailable for the game, including Mitchell Weiser, Olivier Deman, Maximilian Wöber, Amos Pieper and Julian Malatini.
- The staff are optimistic that Niklas Stark and Felix Agu can play if they come through training without setbacks.