German Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich - Preview & Prediction

League-leading Bayern Munich will try to extend their ongoing winning streak to nine consecutive games while paying a visit to top-four hopefuls Bayer Leverkusen, who have beaten the record Bundesliga champions on the last two occasions. Kick-off - at 9:30 AM ET on Saturday, June 6.

Bayer Edge Out Freiburg

Bayer Leverkusen bounced back from their unexpected 4-1 home fiasco at the hands of Wolfsburg on May 26 with a 1-0 victory versus Freiburg away at Schwarzwald-Stadion last Friday. 20-year-old German playmaker Kai Havertz made history, scoring the only snipe of the game, thus becoming the first player in Bundesliga history to score 35 goals before turning 21 (his birthday is on June 11). It was Leverkusen’s fourth victory in the last five matches (W4 L1) and the team’s 10th triumph in its past 13 games (W10 D1 L2), with Die Werkself currently sitting 5th in the league (W17 D5 L7), on level points with 4th-placed Borussia Monchengladbach, but with an inferior goal differential.

With 11 league goals scored so far this season, netting five of them in four appearances since the Bundesliga restart, Havertz leads Bayer Leverkusen in scoring. Goalie Lukas Hradecky, meanwhile, has made 86 saves thus far this year, sitting 5th in the Bundesliga’s goalkeeper chart. He has nine clean sheets in 29 contests this term and concedes a goal every 73 minutes on average. Die Werkself are 5th in most goals buried this season (54), 4th in most shots taken per game (14.9), 2nd in ball possession (59.9%), and 3rd in passing accuracy (84.9%).

Bayern Win Eighth In Row

League-leading Bayern Munich extended their current winning streak to eight contests, posting their fifth clean sheet in the last six games after beating Fortuna Dusseldorf with a score of 5-0 at Allianz Arena on Saturday. The Reds set a new Bundesliga record for goals after 29 rounds of games, stretching out their scoring tally to 86 markers, with Robert Lewandowski, who netted twice, becoming the first player over the age of 30 to bag 29 strikes in a single Bundesliga campaign. Benjamin Pavard and Alphonso Davies also converted for Bayern, who are W21 D4 L4 so far this year in the league, leading 2nd-placed Borussia Dortmund by seven points.

With 29 markers in 29 league games this year, Lewandowski tops the whole Bundesliga in scoring, chasing the all-time single-season record of 40 snipes, set by Bayern legend Gerd Muller in 1972. Goalie Manuel Neuer, meanwhile, sits 11th in the league with 73 saves. He has registered 13 clean sheets in 29 matches this season, giving up a goal every 93 minutes of play. The Reds are leading all Bundesliga teams in most goals netted so far this term (86), in shots taken per game (18.5), in ball possession (62.6%) and in passing accuracy (87.2%).

Prediction

Even though Bayer Leverkusen have beaten Bayern Munich in their last two head-to-head clashes, snatching a 3-1 home victory last year before picking up a 2-1 win in this season’s reverse fixture away in Bavaria in November, expect the imminent German champions to rebound in this one! Firstly, Die Werkself have never beaten the Reds in three consecutive games. Secondly, ahead of the current losing run versus Leverkusen, Bayern had gone unbeaten against Bayer for seven straight games, winning five of them (W5 D2). Both teams have scored in six consecutive fixtures in this series in all competitions, so a tight victory for the visitors, with both sides on the scoresheet, does seem like an excellent pick here.

Best bets:

Bayern Munich to win (-205)

Both teams to score (-220)

Correct score: 2-1 to Bayern Munich (+875)