Does Leverkusen’s mega-series against FCA continue?
Leverkusen are looking forward to a favourite opponent! The Werkself have never lost against Augsburg in the Bundesliga, instead recording 14 wins and seven draws. No other pairing has kicked off so many times in the history of the top flight without both teams recording a success.
For the match at the BayArena between Leverkusen and Augsburg, betting on a goal by Patrick Schick on the side of the hosts seems to be profitable.
Leverkusen – statistics & current form
The Werkself has been comparatively weak defensively this season: after 19 league games, they have already conceded 31 goals. This represents the second worst record at this point in the season since 2000. In the 2002/03 season alone, Leverkusen had conceded one more goal after 19 rounds of matches.
However, Patrik Schick continues to be a reliable offensive player: In the victory in Gladbach last weekend, the Czech scored the decisive goal to make it 2-1 and at the same time made history in Leverkusen: Never before has Bayer had a striker who scored 18 goals in the first 19 rounds of matches!
Thanks mainly to his scoring prowess, the hosts are second in the Bundesliga in shot conversion. Only Borussia Dortmund tops the figure of 21.9 per cent. On top of that, no team targets the opponent’s box better than Leverkusen – 54.7 per cent of the shots on goal taken are of a direct nature.
Will the home side strike at least three times?
Furthermore, only the Black and Yellows and Bayern score more goals in a league-wide comparison. With this in mind, betting on the home side to score more than two goals in the clash between Leverkusen and Augsburg is also a good idea. The odds on Bayer 04 scoring in both halves of the match are also worth betting on.
However, Swiss coach Gerardo Seoane can be very satisfied with his attack not only because of Schick. Rather, the often very good performances are also due to Florian Wirtz. The midfielder has already set up nine goals for his teammates – second best after Thomas Müller.
Diaby equally convincing in forward play
Moussa Diaby, with half a dozen assists to his name, is also the most reliable provider of assists for the 1988 UEFA Cup winners. The Frenchman has also created 28 chances – a tally bettered by only seven players in the Bundesliga.
Another point in favour of the home side is that they have recently regained their home strength. Two of their four wins on home soil this season have come in the last four games and they have not lost at home since the end of October, when they were beaten by Wolfsburg (2-2-0).
Predicted Leverkusen line-up:
Hradecky – Tah – Frimpong – Hincapie – Bakker – Demirbay – Andrich – Bellarabi – Wirtz – Diaby – Schick
Last matches played by Leverkusen:
1st Bundesliga
01/15 2022 – Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
01/08 2022 – Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 2 Union Berlin
12/19 2021 – SC Freiburg 2 – 1 Bayer Leverkusen
12/15 2021 – Bayer Leverkusen 2 – 2 Hoffenheim
12/12 2021 – Eintracht Frankfurt 5 – 2 Bayer Leverkusen
Augsburg – Statistics & current form
The Fuggerstädter are winless for four rounds of matches, but such a series is nothing new for Augsburg. After all, it is already the third time that the guests have had to wait at least for such a period for the next three. At least only one of the games in this flashback was lost.
One shortcoming this season, however, is the sleepiness with which the visitors often start their matches: 21 of the 30 goals conceded were conceded in the first period. This represents the highest percentage (70) in the Bundesliga!
Against their upcoming opponents, the guests will have to watch out especially in the first quarter of an hour: Only Freiburg scores more of its goals until the 15th minute of play in the Beletage of German football – a whopping 25 percent in Leverkusen’s case.
In addition to the shaky defence, the harmlessness of the attack has also meant that coach Markus Weinzierl’s eleven are in fourth-last place in the table, with the relegation zone just one point away.
Attack is hardly present away from home
In addition, the lack of offensive efficiency manifests itself particularly strongly in away games: only six goals have been scored by Augsburg in ten away games – this represents the worst value in the league-wide ranking together with Bochum.
Hopes are now pinned on Ricardo Pepi, who was signed in the winter break for a double-digit million sum from the MLS, where the youngster played for FC Dallas. The striker is considered one of the biggest talents in the USA, but of course he still has to get used to his first stop abroad.
In his first two appearances against Hoffenheim and Frankfurt, the 19-year-old failed to score or provide an assist.
Predicted line-up of Augsburg:
Gikiewicz – Oxford – Iago – Gouweleeuw – Gumny – Vargas – Maier – Dorsch – Zeqiri – Gregoritsch – Pepi
Last matches played by Augsburg:
1st Bundesliga
01/16 2022 – Augsburg 1 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt
01/08 2022 – Hoffenheim 3 – 1 Augsburg
12/18 2021 – Greuther Fürth 0 – 0 Augsburg
12/15 2021 – Augsburg 1 – 1 RB Leipzig
12/10 2021 – 1. FC Köln 0 – 2 Augsburg
Leverkusen – Augsburg Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
The 1993 DFB Cup winners won clearly in the first leg with 4:1, but their opponents helped a lot with two own goals. As described at the beginning, the home side extended their record against Augsburg to 21 matches without defeat (14-7-0) with the three-goal win.
Leverkusen – Augsburg tip
For the duel between Leverkusen and Augsburg, the prediction includes a goal by Patrik Schick. With 18 goals, he takes second place in the scoring charts after the inevitable Robert Lewandowski of the league leaders from Munich. He also scored in the first leg against FCA.
Schick has kept up his great form from last year in the best possible way: This can be seen in the fact that he has already scored again in each of the first two games in 2022 against Union Berlin and Mönchengladbach. Looking back on the past five league games, Schick has scored no fewer than ten goals.
He shouldn’t lack for chances in this pairing either. The visitors are in a relegation battle and have only won once away from home.
Last but not least, the guests’ aforementioned deep black streak against Bayer argues for a home win and it is to be expected that Schick will not miss out on another goal in the race for the title of top scorer with Robert Lewandowski.
Unibet offers betting odds of 2.00 for the clash between Leverkusen and Augsburg
