Having earned a draw in the first meeting, Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to complete the job as they host Qarabag in their Europa League round of 16 second leg. The BayArena has been a fortress all season and the Germans will be confident of earning a comfortable victory on Thursday.
The first leg did not go as smoothly as Bayer Leverkusen would have liked as they had to come from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw. Second half efforts from Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick were enough to earn them the result.
While Bayer Leverkusen were not their usual dominant selves in the first leg, the result means they are still unbeaten across all competitions this season. Xabi Alonso’s men head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 2-0 victory over Wolfsburg in a Bundesliga fixture last weekend.
The victory over Wolfsburg means Bayer Leverkusen have now won nine of their last 10 home matches across all competitions. There have been a few one-sided results in that run, including a 5-1 victory over Molde and a 4-0 thrashing of Bochum.
Qarabag would have been disappointed not to have held on for the win in the first leg having gone into the break with a two goal lead. They failed to build on efforts from Yassine Benzia and Juninho, and were pegged back late in the contest.
Like Leverkusen, Qarabag have also been in good form lately and are unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions. They have claimed four wins in that run, including a 3-1 victory over Zira in a domestic fixture last weekend.
Qarabag also travel to BayArena off the back of eight straight away wins across all competitions. However, Qurban Qurbanov’s men have picked up just one win from their last three away matches in the Europa League, with a 5-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen among the results in that run.
How the bookies view it
Bayer Leverkusen are considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 1/6 by Coral. A victory for Qarabag is valued at 16/1 by Paddy Power while bet365 is offering odds of 16/2 for a draw.
Head to head
Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in three matches against Qarabag, claiming two wins and a draw. The Germans ran out 5-1 winners when both sides met at the BayArena during the group stage.
Players to watch
Florian Wirtz could be worth keeping an eye on having scored in his last two matches. The forward has also been on target in two of the three meetings with Qarabag and is priced at 19/5 by Unibet to maintain his scoring run.
Juninho was on target for Qarabag in the first leg and could be the one to watch on Thursday. The Brazilian forward has four Europa League goals this season and is priced at 11/2 by bet365 to find the net on Thursday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Bayer Leverkusen are usually dominant at home and given the result in the last meeting at BayArena, they could be backed to win both halves at 23/20 with William Hill. A -2 handicap for the Germans could also be considered at 6/5 with bet365.
Having produced over 3.5 goals in the first meeting, a similar outcome could also be considered at 19/20 with Paddy Power.
This UEFA Europa League match between Bayer Leverkusen and Qarabag will be played on Mar 14, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Bayer Leverkusen vs Qarabag prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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