Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich: Bundesliga Preview and Prediction
The question already in mid-March is just how much silverware Bayern Munich will be hoisting by the end of the season. The club gets a chance to march further to glory on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET against Bayer Leverkusen.
The Bundesliga leaders are 11 points clear at the top of the table with just nine games to play and just one defeat in 25 league matches. That dominance continues to assert itself in other competitions as well. The Bavarians dominated hosts Atlanta midweek in the Champions League Round of 16 first-leg matchup. Frenchman Michael Olise had a brace to lead the way in Bayern’s seventh straight triumph in all competitions.
The hosts are the only side to disrupt Bayern’s Bundesliga dominance over the past 13 seasons, winning the Meisterschale in 2023/24. Leverkusen are sixth in this year’s competition, three points back of European qualifying.
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich Odds and Betting Trends
After handling Leverkusen at home in November, Bayern are solid -175 favourites to sweep the season series on the Bundesliga odds, while Bayer Leverkusen are available at +400, and the draw is +360.
Munich are on a four-game unbeaten streak in all competitions against Leverkusen, and have won three straight meetings by an 8-0 aggregate score. Serge Gnabry, Nicolas Jackson, and Loic Blade tallied for the Bavarians in the November thumping that ended the visitors’ Bundesliga-record 37-match road unbeaten streak. Harry Kane is running away with the league’s Golden Boot for the third straight year, having tallied 30 times in 24 Bundesliga matches. He is rested, having gone unused in the midweek throttling of Atalanta.
Bayer Leverkusen
Conceding late equalizers has been the story for Leverkusen over the past week, which drew with Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday and at SC Freiburg last weekend. In both instances, the club allowed a goal after the 85th minute. Leverkusen had Premier League leaders Arsenal on their heels after a Robert Aldrich goal to open the second half, but a penalty by Kai Havertz in the 89th minute against his former club left the hosts crestfallen.
It was a similar feeling on the road at Freiburg, as goals by teenage Cameroonian Christian Kofane, Alejandro Grimaldo, and Martin Terrier had the visitors poised for a full three points, but Matthias Ginter’s 86-minute tally left Leverkusen with just one win (1-1-4) in their last six across all competitions.
Bayern Munich
Bayern are dinged up at the back and could be without their starting left-back and their top two goalkeepers on Saturday. However, Kane’s return up top is expected on the weekend, and his presence will be delightful news for a club that lost Canadian Alphonso Davies to a hamstring injury and goalkeeper Jonas Urbig to a concussion against Atalanta.
The Bavarians were already operating without Manuel Neuer, who was forced to leave at halftime of last week’s 4-1 dismantling of Borussia Monchengladbach. Thankfully, scoring remains a non-issue for Bayern, which has tallied 92 goals in the Bundesliga. Luis Diaz scored one goal and assisted on another in the rout over Monchengladbach last Friday. He has 14 goals and 11 assists in his first season away from Liverpool. Olise has 10 goals and 16 assists, while Jackson has performed well in place of Kane, scoring against both Atalanta and Monchengladbach.
Who Will Win Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich?
It doesn’t matter who’s in goal for the Bavarians. Kane, Diaz, Olise, or somebody else will find the back of the net.
Bayern won handily by three goals at home in November, keeping a clean sheet. We’ll give Leverkusen one at home. But only one. Take Bayern to cover the 1.5-goal spread and win, 3-1.
