Saturday’s game at the BayArena in Leverkusen may offer one final chance to put a halt on Bayern Munich’s march to the Bundesliga title. With just five games left in the campaign, the defending champions have built up a seven-point lead over the chasing pack and the race is all but over.
The teams left in Bayern’s wake will be hopeful that the home side will, at the very least, have slowed that charge down by the end of this fixture. Bayer Leverkusen have risen to fifth, they have won three of their last four games and there is the benefit of home advantage.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich Moneyline Odds
There is a lot to be positive about for Leverkusen fans even if the American sportsbooks for online betting don’t share that optimism. Going into Saturday’s game, Bayern Munich are clear favorites and you can pick up Hans-Dieter Flick’s men at general odds of around -225. The draw is listed at +400 in most places while the home win is just behind that figure at +500.
Bayern Munich have been dominant for much of the season and since the Bundesliga returned in May, the champions have won four straight games and have conceded just twice. Leverkusen have that solid form and we are edging towards picking a draw but if the hosts are to get a positive result, they need to breach that mean Bayern defense.
Prop Bets To Consider
After drawing a blank in the crucial fixture against his old club Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski was back on target with a brace last time out. The Polish striker notched those two goals in the 5-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf to take his tally to 43 for the season.
It has been a prolific campaign for Lewandowksi and he is an obvious favorite to open the scoring at around the +230 mark. Bayern players have a hold on this market with Serge Gnabry and Jann-Fiete Arp both coming in at +500.
The player with the shortest price for Bayer Leverkusen is Vice-Captain Kevin Volland. Played as either a winger or a striker, Volland has 11 goals this season and looks to be the biggest threat for his side on Saturday.
In terms of other prop bets, scoring stats are good on both sides. Bayern Munich have scored 13 times in the four games since the Bundesliga’s return while Bayer Leverkusen have found the net on nine occasions in the same period. For that reason, Both Teams to Score looks a likely pick this weekend even if the odds are a little short.
For better value, the Total Goals market could be the option: Over 3.5 looks to be an interesting pick but if we are a shade braver than usual, we need to move up to Over 4.5 goals for odds that come close to the +200 mark.
Clearly the sportsbooks are expecting a lot of action in front of goal so this may be a good time to take a smaller, speculative punt on a Correct Score bet. Bayern Munich may not let in too many but they should be tested by an in-form Leverkusen side on Saturday. A 3-3 draw is currently available at figures in excess of +3000 while a 4-2 victory in favor of Bayern can be claimed at +2000 and above.
Our Betting Preview’s Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich Predictions & Picks Verdict
In many leagues around the world, whenever a bookmaker prices up a match with a view towards a goal-feast, it frequently ends in a dull encounter. That’s not been the case where Bayern Munich are concerned and the champions-elect have been rampant in front of goal for much of the season.
Expecting a draw is a little brave: Bayer Leverkusen have been in good form as we have seen but their one loss in their last four was a hefty 1-4 home defeat at the hands of VFL Wolfsburg. You may want to disagree with our assessment of the result but the two prop bets are based on the theory that there should be a feast of goals on Saturday.
At the very least, Leverkusen have enough attacking potency to find the net during the game and that would make Both Teams to Score a near certainty. Equally, we are confident that the Over 4.5 Combined Goals bet should drop, even if Bayern Munich need to make the major contribution across the 90 minutes. So our Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich predictions are:
- The Draw at +400 with Bovada.
- Both Teams to Score at -230 with Bovada.
- Over 4.5 Goals at +185 with Bovada.
Matt Harris is a golf and soccer expert for USA Betting. His other area of specialist knowledge is cricket. He is well known in sports journalism and contributes articles to a plethora of big-name websites and media outlets. Titles that he writes or has written for include: Betfair, BetVictor, Unibet & Just Bookies.