Feyenoord vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-09-18 16:45.
[p]Although Feyenoord threw away a 2-0 lead at Groningen on Saturday to make it three draws from their opening four matches (W1), they extended their unbeaten record in the Eredivisie to 24 games (W17, D7). The task now is to get back to winning ways on the highest stage, with the Dutch side beginning their second successive UEFA Champions League (UCL) campaign on Thursday against Bayer Leverkusen.[/p]
[p]Feyenoord have an excellent recent European home record, with just one defeat from their last 18 such matches (W14, D3), but those results all came under former head coach Arne Slot, who left for Liverpool in the summer. Worryingly, his replacement, Brian Priske, arrived in Rotterdam without a UCL main-draw victory to his name (D2, L4), but he will be looking to rectify that in his first non-domestic game in charge of the 1969/70 European Cup winners.[/p]
[p]Leverkusen nearly reached the pinnacle of European football themselves in 2001/02 when they finished as runners-up to Real Madrid in the UCL and they just missed out once again last term when losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) final. That was their only defeat in 53 games (W43, D9) in 2023/24, but a loss has already arrived this season after RB Leipzig overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat them 3-2 in round two of the Bundesliga.[/p]
[p]Xabi Alonso’s men bounced straight back with a convincing 4-1 win at Hoffenheim on Saturday, which took their unbeaten record on the road up to 29 matches (W24, D5)! In Europe alone, Leverkusen have lost only one away game of their last ten (W7, D2), while all three of their previous visits to the Netherlands have ended in draws on the night. The first of those was in November 1987 against Feyenoord, who they then defeated 1-0 in the second leg on their way to lifting the UEFA Cup![/p]
[p]Players to watch: Feyenoord striker Santiago Giménez scored twice on his UCL debut last October and has finished on the winning side in each of the four home games in which he has found the net in Europe. Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface meanwhile contributed to 14 goals (G11, A3) across his last two UEL campaigns and will be keen for more of the same in his first UCL main-draw experience.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: All five of Feyenoord’s matches this season have seen both teams score on the day.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Tom Penn[/i][/p]