Bayer Leverkusen vs Borussia Dortmund
Third plays fourth in the Bundesliga clash of the weekend when Bayer Leverkusen hosts Borussia Dortmund in a blockbuster clash.
All eyes will be on the Saturday 5-30 kick-off at the BayArena as two of the chief chasers come head to head when they try to close the gap on the top two of Bayern Munch and Red Bull Leipzig.
Kasper Hjulmand’s Bayer have been on the charge recently and, last week, they nudged a point ahead of Niko Kovac’s Dortmund who had made a fast start to the campaign. Die Werkself won 3-1 away to Wolfsburg to leapfrog Dortmund, who drew 3-3 at home to fifth placed VfB Stuttgart. Alongside Red Bull Leipzig, the SBOTOP Bundesliga 2025 betting odds make these two teams the biggest challengers to Bayern Munich’s dominance and strong bets for a top four place.
And they were both in Champions League action in midweek, pulling off a pair of spectacular results as Leverkusen executed the coup of the week by beating Manchester City away, while Dortmund thrashed Villarreal at the Signal Iduna Stadium.
Talking Points
Leverkusen on the crest of a Sky Blue wave
When Leverkusen faced Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday they sat 21st in the European league table, facing a side up in fourth place and one with few financial limitations. But the Bundesliga side put on a show of great defiance and no little skill as winger Alex Grimaldo inspired a 2-0 smash and grab. The Sky Blues won the shot count by 19 to seven, and seven to two on target but their wastefulness was punished by the lethal German strikers. Grimaldo opened the scoring half way through the first half and, early in the second period, he teed up Patrik Schick to head home the killer second.
It was backs to the wall stuff for Bayer at times and manager Hjulmand was full of praise for the spirit of his men, who inflicted on City a first Champions League group stage defeat at the Eithad for seven years: “What a performance,” the delighted boss beamed, “I’m very happy and proud of the boys. We played exactly what we wanted to do; we played with a lot of courage and were calm on the ball when we had to.”
With five league goals Schick is in seventh place in the race for the Golden Boot, and he has been a model of consistency as he leads the line of a team which has only been outscored by Bayern Munich in the league. Schick scored a brace in a recent 6-0 thrashing of FC Heidenheim, with a goal from Jonas Hofmann who was also on the mark against Wolfsburg.
Wit three wins on the bounce, this is a team which is desperate to get back on the pitch, and their fans can’t wait to welcome them home.
Dortmund searching for consistency
BVB’s six pointer against Stuttgart was always going to be an entertaining affair, and in the end the spoils were shared; but it was a hugely frustrating afternoon for Kovac’s Dortmund who had the game in their control and let it slip not once, but twice. Emre Can and Max Beier gave Die Schwarzgelben a relatively comfortable half time lead, but a double from Denis Undav levelled the scores. The Yellow Wall erupted on 89 minutes when Karim Adeyemi thought he’d won the game but Dortmund failed to stop Undav completing his hat-trick with an injury time equaliser.
A 4-0 thrashing of Villarreal was just the boost BVB needed and it was star striker Serhou Guirassy who got the ball rolling in the first half. After Juan Foyth was red carded on 52 minutes, Dortmund sank the Yellow Submarine without trace, with goals from Adeyemi and Daniel Svensson and a second for Guirassy.
It was a great night in Dortmund, but an inconsistent run of Bundesliga 2025 results has taken the wind out of Die Schwarzgelben’s sails, back in the domestic league. Three draws from the last four league games have dragged BVB back into the pack and, punctuated by a 4-1 hammering by Manchester City, of all teams, Kovac’s men were in need of a lift.
History
Dortmund have had the better of the head to head results against Leverkusen, winning 21 of the last 44 meetings to Bayer’s 13 and there have been ten draws. At the BayArena it is nine to six in favour of Dortmund, with seven draws, and when the two teams met in May it was a 4-2 win for BVB who came from behind to ruin ex manager Xabi Alonso’s farewell party.
With five wins and one defeat from their last five matches, Leverkusen are certainly gathering momentum, while BVB have been a little more hit and miss with two victories, three draws and a defeat.
Betting Tip
All three results are in play here, with Leverkusen the marginal favourites at a price of at 2.35, Dortmund at 2.60 and the draw is 3.55. But I’m going for goals from two sides with their shooting boots on…and plenty of them.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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