One of the derbies of the round and a match which brings us two teams that are struggling for placement in the Champions League next season. Bayer is currently holding the fourth position with two points above Eintracht, which is fifth, and it is clear how important this match is for both teams. It can also be said that they are equally good in form, with the proviso that Eintracht is still without a victory in the previous two duels, and Bayer played a draw and won. Both teams will also play in the semi-finals of the Cup, and Bayer has celebrated as guest in the first part of the season with 1-0.
Bayer occasionally record a blunder and plays badly, but the general rating is that they are pretty good this season. We can certainly include the mentioned bad performances lately that “skinny” draw with 0-0 at home against Augsburg, while they in the last round shinned against Leipzig and achieved a very important victory with 4-1.
It is interesting that they were not able to score in the above mentioned matches with Cologne and Augsburg, while they scored four goals in Leipzig after they received one. The previous two games were played without striker Alari, who is still suspended, and they had a lot of problems in Leipzig, so S.Bender and Wendell came out earlier from the game due to injuries. The second one will not play against Eintrach, while S.Bender could stay on the bench, which means that Retsos and Henrichs will be the starters.
Probable lineups Bayer Leverkusen: Leno – L.Bender, Tah, Retsos – Henrichs, Baumgartlinger, Aranguiz, Bailey – Havertz, Brandt – Volland
Eintracht struggles to go out on European stage, but it can be said that this team is still playing a bit weaker than last time. This especially refers on the games that they play at home because they do not manage to do much there, while they have only played a draw at home in the last round. It was the first time after almost three months, and in that period they have made six wins and four defeats. Since the end of January and their duel at Wolfsburg, they were unable to score any points as guests and this is worrying before the finish of the season when they are waiting for three very difficult guest appearances, starting with the one against Leverkusen where they have not won for years.
They were defeated two rounds ago in Bremen with 2-1, and goalkeeper Hradecky did not have his day in that match, though they were better on the field and did not deserve to lose. Striker Jovic scored the only goal and he repeated it in the last round against Hoffenheim, which was only enough for 1-1. Willems returns to the starting lineup, and Rebica was not there due to injury. Now we do not expect any changes in the composition.
Probable lineups Eintracht Frankfurt: Hradecky – Abraham, Hasebe, Russ – de Guzman – da Costa, M.Wolf, Boateng, Willems – Fabian – Jovic
Bayer occasionally looks very bad, but now we expect them to shine after a great game in Leipzig and defeat the team of Eintracht, which has recently played poorly and cannot even get to a draw.
Pick: Bayer Leverkusen
wins 1.8 - 8/10 @1XBet