Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich
BayArena, Leverkusen
Saturday, 06-06-2020 @4:30pm
Bayern Munich have dominated the Bundesliga this century and they look to close it off with an 8th title in 10 years.
The Bavarians now sit 7 points clear at the top of the standings and have won all of their last four games since the league resumed last month.
In their latest game, they thrashed Paderborn 5-0 at the Allianz Arena, sending signals to everyone else that they are not intending to slow down any time soon.
Since taking over from Nico Kovac, Hansi Flick has changed the side and they once again look like the giants they have always been.
On Saturday, they face the first of two reasonably tough fixtures as they take on Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena.
Victories over the two Champions League chasing sides will see Bayern all but win the title.
However, the two games may prove to be banana-skins for them and if they do not win them, especially on Saturday, Dortmund may feel they have a chance at the title once again, provided they take care of their respective contests.
For the hosts, they have a chance to jump into fourth, the final Champions League spot.
This is after Borussia Monchengladbach lost their match-day 30 fixture away to Freiburg of Friday.
Anything but a loss on Saturday will say Leverkusen climb above Marco Rose’s side as the two side share the same number of points.
Coming off a scrappy 1-0 victory away to Freiburg, confidence will be back on their side especially after they were humiliated by Wolfsburg a couple of weeks ago.
Kai Havertz was forced off during Leverkusen’s clash with Freiburg last time out, but the Germany international has been declared fit for Saturday’s contest in what is a huge boost for the home side. The youngster is again expected to lead the line despite Kevin Volland and Lucas Alario returning to fitness, and Leverkusen’s squad is in good shape at the moment with Lars Bender their only confirmed absentee. Bosz has plenty of decisions to make with Moussa Diaby, Kerem Demirbay and Karim Bellarabi all named on the bench against Freiburg, meaning that there were starts for the likes of Leon Bailey and Nadiem Amiri. Diaby, Demirbag and Bellarabi are all pushing to return to the XI against Bayern, though, while there should be a spot in defence for Edmond Tapsoba, who was also left out of the starting team for the Freiburg fixture.
As for Bayern, on-loan Barcelona attacker Phillipe Coutinho is still on the sidelines through injury, while the match will also come too soon for Niklas Sule and Corentin Tolisso. Thiago has returned to fitness, though, and the Spaniard could replace Leon Goretzka in the middle of the park, while Jerome Boateng should also return to the starting XI. There are not expected to be any surprises elsewhere, though, with Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Kingsley Coman and Robert Lewandowski again featuring in the attacking positions.
Leverkusen have won their last two Bundesliga encounters with Bayern Munich. They have never won three in a row against the record champions. Leverkusen have won two and lost just one of their last six home matches against the record champions: the 3-1 reverse on 12 January 2018. Bayern have failed to score on four of their last eight visits to the BayArena. Kai Havertz is Leverkusen’s top scorer with 11 goals, five of which have come in the four matches since the season’s restart. His strike at Freiburg on Matchday 29 took him to 35 Bundesliga goals, making the Leverkusen prodigy the first-ever player to reach the milestone before his 21st birthday. Bayern have scored 86 goals this term – a Bundesliga record after 29 rounds of fixtures. Lewandowski is on course to win his fifth Torjagerkanone for being the league’s top goal-getter and his third in a row, but has only scored five times in 17 meetings with Leverkusen
The other Bundesliga games this weekend
Saturday, 06-06-2020
-Leipzig vs Paderbon @4:30pm
-Frankfurt vs Mainz @4:30pm
-Dusseldorf vs Hoffenheim @4:30pm
-Dortmund vs Hertha Berlin @7:30pm
Sunday, 07-06-2020
-Bremen vs Wolfsburg @2:30pm
-Union Berlin vs Schalke @4:30pm
-Augsburg vs Koln @7pm
Result Friday, 05-06-2020
-Freiburg 1-0 Monchengladbach
