BAYER LEVERKUSEN will be looking to extend their extraordinary unbeaten run when they host West Ham in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on Thursday night.
Xabi Alonso's side are having a season to remember, having avoided in each of their 41 outings across all competitions this season so far.
Last time out, Leverkusen soared 16 points clear of Bayern Munich to put themselves on the brink of lifting the Bundesliga title.
Whilst the Black and Reds have yet to taste defeat this term, they did have to stage a dramatic comeback in the last round to defeat Qarabag to secure a spot in the last eight.
As for West Ham, they brushed aside another Bundesliga outfit in the shape of Freiburg with a thumping 5-0 second leg success in the round of 16, on a night where both of my bets landed at the London Stadium.
David Moyes' men warmed up for their trip to the BayArena by coming from behind to beat Wolves 2-1 in the Premier League at the weekend.
Outright Betting
Bayer Leverkusen are comfortable 4/9 favourites on Bet 365 as they bid to make it eight home wins on the bounce.
West Ham go into this game as big outsiders at 6/1 (Bet 365) while a BayArena stalemate is also deemed unlikely at 18/5 (William Hill).
Betting Angles
Bayer Leverkusen are too short to side with at the above-mentioned price but merging a home win with at least one Tomáš Souček foul will bring about a backable 4/5 (PaddyPower) Bet Builder.
As already alluded to, Bayer Leverkusen have put together a remarkable unbeaten run since the start of the season and I suspect they will prove too strong for latest opponents West Ham.
Whilst the Hammers are ticking along relatively nicely themselves at the moment, they have already lost away at both Olympiakos and Freiburg in this season's Europa League, not to mention they have filed just one clean sheet across their last 16 outings in all competitions.
That doesn't bode well ahead of a visit to the Bay Arena where they will be coming up against a Leverkusen side that have scored two or more goals in a whopping 35 of their 41 matches this season so far.
As such, I'm prepared to back the high-flying hosts to draw first blood here, but to bolster the odds, I'll also throw in at least one Tomáš Souček foul.
The towering Czech midfielder committed a combined total of five fouls across the Hammers' two most recent Europa League ties with Freiburg and he should be assigned plenty of work here given that David Moyes will almost certainly opt for a safety-first strategy.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz looks worthy of interest in the To Score or Assist market at 5/6 on PaddyPower .
Leverkusen's talismanic attacking-midfield talent has racked up seven goal contributions across his last seven outings so he looks a great value option to continue in that vein against the leaky Londoners.
This UEFA Europa League match between Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham United will be played on Apr 11, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Bayer Leverkusen vs West Ham United prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.