Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich 02/02/19

02 February 2019

The Champions League contestants and the Bundesliga title contenders go head-to-head at the BayArena this weekend, as Bayer Leverkusen tackle an in-form Bayern Munich.

The hosts’ indifferent form (W8, D3, L8) could be a major influence here, as the visitors don’t know what to expect from a team that has been oscillating that much this season. Although won three of their last five Bundesliga outings, the Company XI have suffered two defeats in the process, both to league’s top-four teams (Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach). A 1-0 loss to the Borussians has brought Leverkusen’s 3-game home winning run to an end, leaving them with a negative -2 goal difference. Sitting 9th in the table, Peter Bosz’s players chase the Champions League promotion zone by four points, and this encounter could be decisive for them in terms of confidence and determination.

Currently trailing arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund by six points, Niko Kovac’s men can’t afford a lapse in concentration, especially considering the league leaders face Eintracht Frankfurt and could drop some points. The Bavarians have been sweeping their Bundesliga rivals aside over the past two months, gathering seven consecutive league victories with a +17 goal difference. In the same sequence, the reigning holders have conceded just three goals while scoring over 2.5 goals per match five times. Surprisingly, the Reds have collected more points away from home (24), which is more than any other side in the German top flight managed so far. The Bavarians enter the encounter with a four-game Bundesliga road winning streak that has seen them scoring an average of 3 goals per match.