Two attacking teams face off at BayArena
Bayer Leverkusen welcome the visit of seemingly invincible Bayern Munich this Saturday afternoon, Peter Bosz’s side will need to make their presence noticed to avoid losing ground on the race for the four Champions League qualification spots. They are currently in fifth, just behind Borussia Monchengladbach on goal difference, and recovered from a midweek setback to get back to winning ways against Freiburg on Friday evening. Kai Havertz bagged the only goal of the game and his fifth in four outings, no let up in form for the golden boy of German football. The Bavarians are strong favourites, they are performing frighteningly well under Hansi Flick.
Last time out
After their glaringly disappointing 4-1 hammering at home to Wolfsburg, Leverkusen managed to push their momentum back in the right direction, grinding out the victory with Havertz’ 54th minute strike, Bosz’s men’s only shot on target. They lost the expected goals battle 0.78 – 0.43 and will have to create a lot more than that to trouble the esteemed recently formed partnership of Jerome Boateng and David Alaba in the heart of the champions’ defence.
The league leaders unsurprisingly made light work of a much-improved Fortuna Dusseldorf side in the late kickoff on Saturday, netting three before the break and two after to pull through a winning tip. The ever-impressive Alphonso Davies added the fifth and final blow in the 51st minute before proceedings slowed down a touch, with the contest well and truly over.
Key men
The revitalised Thomas Muller has been one of the stories of this Bundesliga season, and typifies the influence of Flick. Muller has the all-time record for assists in the division at 115 and is closing in on Kevin De Bruyne’s record of 21 in a season. The German international has 18 and seven goals with five fixtures remaining, Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho has 16. Operating just off of mercurial finisher Robert Lewandowski, widely recognised as the best striker on the planet, Muller is incredibly efficient with his movement and shot accuracy.
One of the players the hosts will look to along with Havertz is Moussa Diaby. The 20-year-old’s pace and trickery down the left flank has been great to watch this campaign, contributing four goals and five assists and attracting interest all around Europe. Some sources suggest he is on the radar of Dortmund should they be in the hunt for a Jadon Sancho replacement in the next transfer window. Diaby’s battle with newly first choice right back Benjamin Pavard will be an interesting one, that he must win to take pressure off the backline and compete in the final third.
Bayern are too strong; they are better than Leverkusen all over the pitch. They have the defensive solidarity to blunt the fifth placed team just as they did in Der Klassiker.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
Lucas Alario gave Leverkusen a surprise lead in the absence of Kai Havertz before a dominant win for the Champions elect ensued. They pulled it back to lead 3-1 at half time, slicing open Bosz's defence with ease. 4-1 it finished.