Hamburg vs Bayer Leverkusen Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Both Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen have had a hard time reaching their full potential this season; Hamburg find themselves within the automatic relegation positions once again after last weekend’s 3-1 defeat away to fellow strugglers Ingolstadt. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen dropped the ball by failing to hold onto their 2-0 lead in a 3-2 defeat at home to the travel-sick Borussia Monchengladbach.

Despite their recent inconsistencies, Bayer Leverkusen are reasonably short here at 21/20 with bet365. While we also fancy the visitors to take something away from this match, both teams to score at 3/4 has to be the safer bet here for the following reasons: Leverkusen’s downfall this season has not come from their lack of goals – Leverkusen are the 5th highest scoring side in the Bundesliga (28 goals) – but instead stems from their inability to keep a clean sheet – Leverkusen have failed to keep a clean sheet in 15 of their 18 Bundesliga matches (83%) so far this season. Consequently, both teams to score has landed in 78% of Leverkusen’s matches and, notably, in 88% of their away matches. Meanwhile, although Hamburg themselves are not in top form, the north Germans have only failed to score in 1 of their last 10 Bundesliga matches.

Despite the disappointment of last weekend’s result, Leverkusen can take solace in the fact that Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez finally broke his 11 match goalless run against Borussia M’gladbach. Unfortunately for them, Hernandez has been ruled out of this weekend’s clash due to injury (see team news).  Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has also been suspended for four months. Leverkusen will be relying heavily on youngster Joel Pohjanpalo, who can be backed to score anytime at 15/8. He’s not played many minutes in recent matches, but should be a fitting replacement considering he scored three against Hamburg earlier this season in Levekusen’s 3-1 win at home.

Regarding a correct score bet, the visitors are the better side on paper and have the overall advantage regarding squad absences (see team news). Leverkusen have also been in slightly better form on the road than at home in recent weeks, taking 10 points (W3 D1 L2) from their last six away matches, compared to just 7 points (W2 D1 L3) at the BayArena over the same number. As such, Leverkusen to win 2-1 at 15/2 seems a reasonable shout here.