Freiburg vs Bayer Leverkusen 30/05/20

30 May 2020

After succumbing to a disastrous 4-1 home defeat to Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen will look to return to winning ways in the Bundesliga (BL) when they take on Freiburg at the Schwarzwald-Stadion this weekend.

Winless in three consecutive league fixtures (D2, L1), the hosts face a formidable challenge of the Leverkusen side they’ve failed to beat in their last five top-flight H2Hs (D3, L2). While just one of those five H2Hs saw both teams on the scoresheet, four have featured under 2.5 goals, too, indicating this could be a ‘low-scoring’ affair. At home, none of Freiburg’s last nine BL matches has ended in a stalemate (W5, L4), with five of those results (win/loss) yielding a narrow one-goal margin. Christian Streich’s men usually turn into an exciting team to watch after the break, as 67.74% (21) of their total 31 BL home goals (scored/conceded) so far came in the second half of play.

Meanwhile, the visitors’ hopes of securing the top-four finish suffered a minor setback during midweek, as they now sit fifth although level on points with fourth-placed Borussia Monchengladbach. Peter Bosz can still rely upon his side’s four-game unbeaten BL away run to boost his efforts to regain the Champions League spot (W3, D1), especially considering Leverkusen’s free-scoring form across those travels. Indeed, ‘Die Werkself’ have netted over 2.5 goals in each of those abovementioned three victories, finding the back of the net in both halves on all of those occasions, too. Curiously, though, the majority of Bayer’s away goals scored so far has come in the opening 45 minutes of play, with 59% (16) of their 27 goals scored on the road arriving before the halftime break.