Bayer Leverkusen vs Paderborn 17/08/19

17 August 2019

Bayer Leverkusen welcome the Bundesliga (BL) returnees Paderborn to the BayArena this weekend for the opening match of the 2019-20 BL campaign.

Fresh from a 4-1 away win against the lower-league side Alemania Achen in the first round of DFB Pokal, the hosts will look to stretch their unbeaten BL home streak to four games (W2, D1). Die Werkself endured mixed fortunes in their nine BL home outings in 2019 (W5, D1, L3), with just over a half of those matches featuring over 2.5 goals (five). Still, all of those triumphs have seen Leverkusen score two or more goals while three of those games have ended with the same 2-0 scoreline. It’s been a tough summer for Leverkusen though, as Peter Bosz’s men secured just one win in eight pre-season games (W1, D2, L5), with six of those matches seeing both teams score.

Meanwhile, the visitors have secured their second-ever Bundesliga campaign after finishing second in the 2. Bundesliga last term. The last time Paderborn played in the German top tier in 2014-15, they finished bottom of the table, losing 17 of 34 BL fixtures. Also, one of Paderborn’s main issues last season was their indifferent road form (W6, D3, L8), as just 21 of their total 57 league points have arrived away from home (36.84%). Steffen Baumgart’s players have barely edged past the lower-league outfit Rodinghausen in DFB Pokal last time out, winning the tie after a penalty shootout after the game ended in a 3-3 draw.