Bayer Leverkusen vs Dortmund prediction: GERMANY: Bundesliga betting tips on match 2023-01-28 16:30.
Fears that the World Cup break came at the wrong time for Bayer Leverkusen were vanquished with two victories upon their return to Bundesliga action, which consequently has extended their Bundesliga winning streak to five games. Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso would have been particularly pleased with Wednesday’s 2-0 success at home to Bochum after he reminded his side of the need to sustain “focus” following a late scare in last week’s 3-2 success away at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Impressively, only three Bundesliga teams can better Leverkusen’s points return (19) since Alonso’s debut in October. Alonso should be especially content with his team’s defensive performances at home, where they have collected four clean sheets from their last five Bundesliga outings at BayArena (W4, D1). Their latest on Wednesday evening against Bochum even saw the club secure three consecutive shutouts at home for the first time since April 2016!
The feel-good factor within the home camp is sure to be tested by visiting Borussia Dortmund, who started the round three places (fifth) and seven points ahead of the home side. Dortmund also resumed their season with back-to-back victories, although manager Edin Terzić has been a little more circumspect about their success. He assessed Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over Mainz, the second consecutive game in which they netted a match-winning goal beyond the 75th minute, as“lucky”.
Dortmund also scored the winning goal in the 77th minute of their last visit to the BayArena back in September 2021 (4-3). That, along with Wednesday’s win on the road, should give them the confidence required to begin correcting an ordinary travelling record that has seen them lose five of their nine Bundesliga road trips (W4) – which is already as many away defeats as they collected across the entirety of the 2021/22 Bundesliga.
Key battle: Tough-tackling Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapié will have to be careful facing attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham, given the Dortmund star is the most fouled player (48) in the division ahead of this round. No player had been awarded more yellow cards than Hincapié’s seven.
Hot stat: The winner on the day has scored at least three goals in nine of the last 12 H2H meetings (Leverkusen: W3, D1, L8).