The Bundesliga title race could take a definitive turn this weekend as Bayer Leverkusen welcome Bayern Munich to BayArena on Saturday. Xabi Alonso’s men are second in the standings with 46 points while Vincent Kompany’s side are eight clear of their hosts after beating Werder Bremen while Die Werkself were held by Wolfsburg. It was the first time in 18 games that Leverkusen had been prevented from scoring although they are unbeaten in five games. These two have already met twice with a 1-1 draw in the league followed by a 1-0 victory for Alonso and his players in the DFB Pokal.
The home side have won three of their undefeated five games with 14 wins from 17 over a longer span of time. Leverkusen are also without defeat at home in 16 games with their last 10 BayArena encounters finishing with a win and scoring three goals in three of the last four. As for Bayern, they come into this game having disposed of Bremen and now boast three or more goals scored in 19 of their games with a goal tally of 65 keeping them on course for a season total of around 105. A 2-1 midweek win over Celtic has also set the Bavarians up to advance to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 ahead of next week’s second leg at Allianz Arena.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, February 15 | Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Location: BayArena – Leverkusen, Germany
- Watch: ESPN+
- Odds: Leverkusen +200; Draw +270; Bayern +120
This season so far
Alonso has steered his side into the DFB Pokal semifinals as well as the UCL round of 16 while sitting second in the Bundesliga with their current pace likely to earn them 78 points. That would be 12 fewer than in 2023-24 and Die Werkself have scored 17 goals from six German topflight outings but have only kept three clean sheets from 12. On the other hand, Bayern have also found it tough defensively with 11 goals against from their last seven games which is already more than in their 15 outings before that. Road games have also been tricky with four wins, one draw and two losses from their last seven.
Team news
Leverkusen: Jeanuel Belocian is out injured so Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah and Piero Hincapie should start in front of Lukas Hradecky. Victor Boniface and Florian Wirtz should also start given that Martin Terrier is out long-term while Nathan Tella could also get a start.
Possible Leverkusen XI: Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo; Wirtz, Boniface, Tella.
Bayern: Alphonso Davies and Daniel Peretz are both out with Raphael Guerreiro likely to fill in at left back alongside Josip Stanisic, Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae. Joao Palhinha is doubtful so Joshua Kimmich could be partnered by Leon Goretzka in the middle.
Possible Bayern XI: Neuer; Stanisic, Upamecano, Kim, Guerreiro; Kimmich, Goretzka; Olise, Musiala, Coman; Kane.
Prediction
Although a narrow home win would not be a huge surprise given the form Alonso’s men have enjoyed at BayArena, a draw with both sides scoring seems about right and that would be a good result for Kompany’s Bavarians given the title race implications. Pick: Leverkusen 1, Bayern 1.
