Bayer Leverkusen v RB Leipzig: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Bayer Leverkusen, the team who simply will not be beaten, put their undefeated Bundesliga run on the line against RB Leipzig at the BayArena on Saturday evening.

Xabi Alonso's German champs made it 35 league games without defeat by kicking off this season with a 3-2 win at Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.

But they know they can expect a real battle from Leipzig, who gave Leverkusen two tough battles last season and will also be upbeat after opening their own campaign with a 1-0 success over Bochum.

Bayer Leverkusen v RB Leipzig betting tips and predictions

Draw - 16/5

Borussia Monchengladbach gave champions Bayer Leverkusen a fair examination at the start of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season and Xabi Alonso's men will be expecting no let-up from Leipzig.

Two matches between these sides last season produced narrow 3-2 wins for the champs, with Leverkusen having to come from 2-1 down to win the most recent of those encounters in January.

Leverkusen, of course, would go on to win their first German title while Leipzig would pip Borussia Dortmund for fourth.

There don't look to be too many teams capable of deposing Leverkusen this season but alongside Bayern Munich a fair few experts have talked up Leipzig's prospects.

And they have started the season brightly enough with a 4-1 win at Rot-Weiss Essen in the DFB Pokal and a 1-0 success over Bochum in the league with new signing Antonio Nusa scoring in both.

It has been a largely quiet transfer window with the likes of Nusa and Arthur Vermeeren coming in with Dani Olmo the one obvious departure.

But the threats from the likes of Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda remain clear, while Rose may well be tempted to keep Nusa on the bench and bank on a more solid, cohesive defensive unit to keep Leverkusen at bay.

Leverkusen are still scoring goals having bagged two in a 2-2 Stuttgart draw in the Supercup and then three at Monchengladbach in a 3-2 win. They then pipped Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0 in the Pokal.

All three games have been tight and that was the story of their pre-season, too.

Victor Boniface leads a potent front line but they aren't wholly secure at the back and there is every reason to think this could be close. The draw may look more attractive at 16/5 than the home side at 3/4.

Granit Xhaka Over 0.5 Shots on Target - 13/8

Leverkusen fired off 25 shots at Monchengladbach last weekend, a pretty impressive return for an away match.

Not surprisingly they came from all over the park with 11 different players having a pop at Jonas Omlin's goal.

Seven of those 11 managed to hit the target with Florian Wirtz doing it better than most with two goals.

The other goal was scored by Granit Xhaka, the former Arsenal man hitting the target with one of the two shots he unleashed at Borussia-Park.

The 31-year-old Swiss midfielder is a pivotal player in the Leverkusen side with his tireless work defensively. But he also weighed in with three goals last season to add to the seven he mustered in his final campaign at The Emirates.

Xhaka never needs a second invitation to have a go and he looks almost a must-bet at 13/8 to get over 0.5 shots on target.

Leipzig Over 3.5 Corners - 8/11

Leipzig won five corners on last season's trip to the BayArena, in a 3-2 defeat in August.

Rose's men kicked off this term with nine more against Bochum last weekend.

They will be doing far more defending against Leverkusen than they had to against Bochum but the Red Bull outfit still look value at 8/11 to win at least four corners.

Read more football betting tips and predictions.

Bayer Leverkusen v RB Leipzig

Bayer Leverkusen - 3/4
Draw - 16/5
RB Leipzig - 31/10

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.