Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Borussia Mönchengladbach – Visitors a top tip to take 3 points

Bayer 04 Leverkusen v Borussia Mönchengladbach – Visitors a top tip to take 3 points

Gladbach shook up the Bundesliga last weekend by becoming the first side to beat Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich this season so are big favourites among the top football tipsters to take all three points from Leverkusen on Saturday. The shock victory took them third in the Bundesliga with 26 points – still a massive 14 behind leaders Bayern and nine points off second placed Dortmund but well placed in the top four which means Champions League qualification. They currently sit level on points with Hertha Berlin – the side who beat Leverkusen 2-1 last Saturday – and will be looking to bounce back from their 4-2 midweek Champions League defeat against Manchester City that saw them knocked out of European competition by finishing fourth in Group D (behind City, Juventus and Sevilla).

LEVERKUSEN’S LITTLE PEA IS A BIG THREAT

Leverkusen have their own top four ambitions yet slipped up against Hertha Berlin after being reduced to ten-men in the 2-1 defeat. They showed some fight against Barcelona in their CL midweek match, taking a point off the reigning Champions courtesy of a 1-1 draw to qualify for the Europa League in third place behind Barca and Roma. Mexican Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez scored against Berlin and got the goal against the Catalans – his 12th in 11 games and the on-loan hotshot is a tipsters favourite to add to his tally tomorrow. Former Red Devil Chicharito’s potency in front of goal for Leverkusen has been the cause of dismay for Manchester United fans left wondering where the next goal is coming from while ‘Little Pea’ has been banging them in regularly since his move to Leverkusen.

A HIGH SCORING AFFAIR

Leverkusen against Gladbach is normally a fixture with plenty of goals – averaging 4.1 a game – so online football tipsters may be predicting a high scoring affair. In their last 20 games against each other Leverkusen have won ten of the head-to-heads – scoring an average 2.4 goals against Gladbach, losing four and drawing six. Leverkusen may be Gladbach’s bogey team given Die Werkself have only failed to score in two of their last 32 games against Gladbach – including a run of 26 consecutive games unbeaten between 1994 and 2010, which is still a Bundesliga record.

MORE HISTORY AND MATCH STATS

History and statistics point to 2-1 home win – Leverkusen’s standard strike rate at home is two a match with the visitors averaging one goal in their away games. However, Gladbach beat the hosts 3-0 last time they met and secured a 1-1 in the corresponding fixture last season. They have been transformed under new coach Andre Schubert and remain unbeaten in the Bundesliga in the ten games since he took over – with eight wins and two draws taking Gladbach to third in the table. Winger Fabian Johnson has been in the form of his life and is emblematic of his sides revival under Schubert so much will depend on his performance to see if Gladbach can topple Leverkusen.

By: Joe Cahal