Will Leverkusen’s downward slide continue?
During the week, Bayer Leverkusen suffered the next setback in what has been a very disappointing 2021 so far. In the Europa League, the club was deservedly eliminated after two defeats against Young Boys from Bern, continuing the downward slide of recent weeks. In the Bundesliga, too, Bosz’s team regularly lost ground and forfeited its good starting position in the fight for the Champions League places.
We think it is exaggerated that the odds of the best bookmakers are nevertheless quite one-sided in favour of the home side against the backdrop of the Rhinelanders’ ongoing form weakness between Leverkusen and Freiburg. Even though the Sport-Club lost the two most recent direct duels against Bayer, we trust Christian Streich’s team to win at least one point on Sunday evening.
Our Leverkusen vs. Freiburg prediction is supported by the fact that the fifth-placed team in the Bundesliga table has only won one of its last five league games. In addition, the visitors from Breisgau have already caused problems for a number of other top teams this season, including Dortmund, Gladbach and Wolfsburg. The pressure is clearly on the shoulders of the hosts, which does not make the task any easier for the supposed favorites.
Leverkusen – Freiburg Predictions & Live Odds
At the end of the 23rd matchday in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen and Freiburg will face each other on Sunday evening from 18:00. The betting odds imply that the home side will be the clear favourites, but we cannot fully understand this.
Leverkusen are in the midst of a serious crisis, having won only two of their last ten Bundesliga games and have also been eliminated in the Europa League and the DFB Cup against weaker rivals. The fact that Thursday night’s game took its toll on the team in many respects cannot be ignored either. The absences of the sorely missed Lukas Hradecky and the suspended Diaby add to this.
Although Freiburg has not been entirely convincing in recent weeks, the mood at the Breisgau club is naturally much more positive than at Workers’ Club, whose coach Peter Bosz may have to fear for his job if things do not improve as quickly as possible. The Streich eleven is uncomfortable and at the same time willing to redeem itself for the weak performance from the previous week and from the last away games.
We, therefore, try to bet that the visitors will pick up at least one point. For the double chance X2 we get an attractive odds of over 2.20 in the top at the tested bookmakers below:
Leverkusen – Statistics & Current Form
Bayer Leverkusen have played twelve competitive matches in the 2021 calendar year. The team, which was still leading the standings in Germany’s top division shortly before Christmas, only managed to win two of them. Six defeats in the first two months after the turn of the year as well as the disappointing failure in the DFB Cup against RW Essen and in the Europa League against Young Boys have created gloom for the ambitious Bundesliga team.
At the latest after Thursday night’s disappointing performance at home against the Swiss champions and the resulting 2-0 defeat, discussions are also mounting about coach Peter Bosz, who has recently lacked the necessary influence on his team. Within a few weeks, the Werkself’s entire season threatens to slip away, especially as only fifth place in the league is currently up for grabs. They are five points behind fourth place.
Leverkusen without clean sheet for ten league games
In view of the very poor form, the increased uncertainty, and the very vulnerable defense, which has failed to keep a clean sheet in the past ten Bundesliga games, we refrain from betting on the home side between Leverkusen and Freiburg. The odds taken from the Wettbasis odds comparison are too low in relation to the undoubted risk.
“It is clear that we are in a difficult phase. And that is still understatement”
Bayer coach Bosz
Of course, the situation is made even more difficult by the fact that Sunday already marks the third English week this month for the Werkself. On top of that, they had to cope with a bitter disappointment late on Thursday evening. It is questionable whether Bayer 04 can simply shake the physical and mental fatigue out of their clothes. Arias, Baumgartlinger, L. Bender and Paulinho are out anyway. The much-missed regular keeper Hradecky must also continue to miss out. Hopeful Diaby will have to watch after his fifth yellow card.
Predicted Leverkusen line-up:
Grill – Fosu-Mensah, S. Bender, Tapsoba, Wendell – Aranguiz – Wirtz, Amiri – Bailey, Alario, D. Gray
Freiburg – Statistics & current form
SC Freiburg have played a very decent season so far. Looking back at the past six seasons, the Breisgauers only had more points on their account at this point in 2019/20. Meanwhile, the 35 goals scored are even the best figure for almost 20 years (94/95). As the ninth-placed team in the table, the five-point gap to the Europa League places is much smaller than the lead over the first relegation place, which is already 13 points.
Although Christian Streich’s team is looking ahead, the Black Forest side has lost some of its momenta in recent weeks. They have also only managed two wins in their last seven matches, even though their performances have been good for long stretches with the exception of the 1-0 defeat at home to Union Berlin the previous week.
Weak Union performance as additional motivation for the Leverkusen match?
We even go so far as to say that the aforementioned defeat against the Eisern is one of the reasons why the odds on the guest between Leverkusen and Freiburg should be examined more closely. We think it is unlikely that Streich’s eleven will present such a despondent picture twice in a row. The ongoing negative streak with three away defeats in a row should also be stopped in the BayArena at best. This is supported, for example, by the fact that SCF only scored more goals away from home against Werder Bremen (29) than against Leverkusen (25) in the Bundesliga.
“We had too few scoring chances in the last few games because we didn’t play good enough quality football in the front third. We have to improve that”
SCF coach Streich
Another positive aspect is that the visitors can play with complete freedom in view of their position in the standings. The home side are under pressure and will be up against an uncomfortable opponent who will want to show their old face again after two attacking zeros in a row. Christian Streich has no personnel problems at all. Only substitute keeper Flekken and Kwon, who is in rehabilitation training, are out.
Expected line-up of Freiburg:
F. Müller – Kübler, Lienhart, K. Schlotterbeck, Günter – Santamaria, Höfler – Schmid, Grifo – Sallai – Demirovic