FC Zurich vs Bayer Leverkusen Predictions

Both sides head into game week three of Group A in perfect form. Zurich kick started their campaign with a 1-0 away win against AEK Larnaca and followed that up with a 1-0 home victory against Bulgarian side Ludogorets. Bayer Leverkusen started their Europa League campaign off with a 3-2 away win against Ludogorets and followed that up with a 4-2 home win against AEK Larnaca.

Zurich are in decent form at home in their own domestic league, they have not lost at the Stadion Letzigrund since March, however that 11 game unbeaten run has seen just 4 wins and 7 draws. They were leading 3-1 at home to top of the league Young Boys on Saturday however conceded two goals in 5 minutes to eventually draw the game 3-3.

Bayer Leverkusen are having a mixed season, whilst they have made a great start to their Europa League group their league form what is somewhat different. They sit in 13th place in the Bundesliga having picked up just 8 points from 8 games this season. They have improved recently as they did start their league season with 3 consecutive losses and have followed those up with 2 wins and 2 draws in their last 5 outings.

Much like their league form, Zurich have enjoyed success at home in the Europa League also. Stretching back to August 2014 Zurich have won 4, drawn 4 and lost 1 of their last 9 home Europa League games. They have played some decent sides in that time too, picking up a 3-2 win and 1-1 draw against Villarreal in 2014 and 2016 respectively, whilst also picking up a 1-1 draw at home to another German side, Borussia M’Gladbach.

This is Bayer Leverkusen’s first involvement in the Europa League since they were eliminated in the quarter finals 2-0 on aggregate to Villarreal in 2016. Leverkusen are hit and miss when they travel in Europe, in their last 10 away Europa League games they have won 6 and lost 4 with their losses generally coming against the better sides they have faced, losing to Villarreal in 2011 and 2016 and Benfica in 2013.

This game will be a bit of a clash of styles, Zurich generally like to keep it tight and shut their opponents out in Europe whilst Bayer Leverkusen have been a bit gung ho, shown by the 11 goals seen in their 2 games so far. We don’t think Zurich will be able to keep them out, and with Bayer Leverkusen conceding 2 goals to both Ludogorets and AEK Larnaca we can’t see the German side keeping a clean sheet either so far that reason we are backing Both Teams to Score. We can see this being another big scoring game, and for that reason we are going for a 2-2 draw.