Bundesliga: Leverkusen Host Hoffenheim in Top-4 Shootout

Bayer Leverkusen vs TSG Hoffenheim 

Bayer Leverkusen host Hoffenheim this midweek in a big battle between two of the Bundesliga‘s top-four teams through the first 15 rounds.

Third-placed Leverkusen will be looking to bounce back from back-to-back defeats, including a disastrous thrashing away to Eintracht Frankfurt over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Hoffenheim are coming off a big win over high-flying Freiburg to move into the top four and will now look to defy the Bundesliga 2021 betting odds yet again in search of their fifth straight victory.

Talking Points

Schick-led Leverkusen off to strong start

Bayer Leverkusen are off to another strong start this Bundesliga season. They are currently in third place, four points behind Borussia Dortmund in second and one point ahead of opponents Hoffenheim.

However, after losing their dead-rubber Europa League match in midweek against Ferencvaros, they suffered a stunning 5-2 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt over the weekend. After going 2-0 ahead thanks to an early Patrik Schick brace, Leverkusen completely collapsed as they conceded five goals without reply.

As impressive as Leverkusen have been this season, they do have a concerning habit of collapsing defensively. They have already conceded four or more goals in three games.

Prior to that defeat, Leverkusen had won their last three Bundesliga games, which included a 7-1 thumping of Greuther Fuerth. Euro 2020 standout Schick produced plenty of Bundesliga 2021 highlights with four goals in that game and is currently second in the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with 14 goals, two behind the great Robert Lewandowski.

Leverkusen’s tremendous attack – led by Schick and wunderkind Florian Wirtz – is second only to Bayern with 37 goals in 15 games.

Although, they have an unconvincing record at home this season with four wins and three defeats. Granted, two of those defeats came against the top two, Bayern Munich (1-5) and Borussia Dortmund (3-4).

Hoffenheim soaring high under Hoeness

Sebastian Hoeness is doing some impressive things at Hoffenheim. The second-year coach has Die Kraichgauer surprisingly up in fourth place and challenging for a Champions League spot.

Hoffenheim are also in fourth in terms of goals scored with 32 in 15 games, and they are doing so without a top striker in their squad.

Andrej Kramaric, who scored 20 goals in 28 games last season, is off to a slow start with just two goals in 14 games. But it has been a complete team effort to compensate up front. They have already had 15 different goalscorers through the first 15 games. 

Their top scorer thus far this season has been Ihlas Bebou, who has five goals, three of which he scored against Greuther Fuerth.

Hoffenheim have also been the comeback kings this season. They have already won 10 points from losing positions, the most in the league. Six of those points have come during their recent four-game winning streak as they came back to defeat Greuther Fuerth and Eintracht Frankfurt. They also struck deep into stoppage time to beat Freiburg 2-1 over the weekend.

After going five straight away games without a win (four losses, one draw), Hoffenheim have now won back-to-back games outside the PreZero Arena.

History

Bayer Leverkusen hold a 15-8 edge over Hoffenheim in terms of head-to-head wins over their last 27 league meetings, with four draws.

But after Leverkusen’s early dominance, Hoffenheim have turned the tables over the last few years. They have won six of their last 12 meetings, with three draws, and just three defeats.

Leverkusen got the upper hand last season, though. They won 4-1 at the BayArena thanks to a Leon Bailey brace, then held Hoffenheim to a goalless draw in the reverse fixture.

Betting Tip 

	Bayer Leverkusen vs TSG Hoffenheim	Over 3.00 @ 1.73
	December 16, 3:30 (GMT+8)

SBOTOP odds have Bayer Leverkusen favoured at 1.85 to get the home win over Hoffenheim, who are priced at 4.00. Meanwhile, a draw is at 3.60.

There are usually plenty of goals when these two teams are involved. Not only are they among the highest scoring teams in the league, but their defences are also not the strongest.

With Schick in fine form, Leverkusen will like their chances of improving their disappointing home record. But the better bet will be for there to be a good number of goals to be scored in what should be a high-scoring top-four shootout.

 

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