Bayer Leverkusen vs Ludogorets Predictions

Bayer Leverkusen head into game week 5 knowing they are already guaranteed to be through to the knockout stages of the Europa League. They have 9 points on the board from their opening 4 games along with Zurich, whilst the remaining two teams have just 2 points. The only thing they are fighting for now is top spot in the group. They come into this game on the back of a confidence boosting 2-0 win at home to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

Ludogorets have had a campaign to forget in the Europa League, after picking up just two points in their opening 4 group games they are guaranteed to be eliminated from the competition no matter what the results are from their remaining 2 games. They currently sit top of their domestic league and with 3 league games in the space of a week coming up we expect their attentions to be focused on those games more so than in going all out for a result here.

Bayer Leverkusen will be happy with their Europa League campaign so far, they have won 3 of their 4 group games after a 3-2 win away at Ludogorets, a 4-2 home win vs AEK Larnaca and a 1-0 win against Zurich. The only blot on their record is a 3-2 away loss to Zurich.

Ludogorets on the other hand will not be happy with their performance in this season’s Europa League, the Bulgarian outfit opening up with a 3-2 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen and a 1-0 loss at Zurich before drawing home and away to AEK Larnaca. They will struggle to avoid further misery in their final group games as the two top teams battle it out for top spot.

Bayer Leverkusen are very handy at home in this competition, winning 14 of their last 20 home Europa League games, drawing 3 and losing 3. The 3 losses came against decent outfits in Zenit, Villarreal and Benfica, showing that whilst they struggle against the better sides they are pretty ruthless in dispatching of the lesser sides. Ludogorets away from home love a draw in this competition, they have drawn 6 of their last 10 away Europa League games.

Bookmakers have priced Leverkusen as the odds on favourites, a price we feel is pretty fair given the form of the sides. With only top spot up for grabs in the group and Leverkusen neither being in contention for a European place nor threat of relegation in their domestic league at the moment, we feel they will give it a shot here. We think they will win this fairly easily and like the -1.5 Asian Handicap on offer here. With nothing to play for we don’t see Ludogrets putting up much of a fight and can see Leverkusen winning 2-0 on Thursday.