Bayer Leverkusen will put their unbeaten record on the line as they travel to RB Leipzig for a Bundesliga clash on Saturday. Both teams have plenty of attacking quality and could be set to produce a high-scoring encounter.
RB Leipzig are coming off a 1-0 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in their previous Bundesliga fixture. They fell behind early in the contest off what turned out to be Frankfurt’s only attempt on target and despite dominating the possession and creating several chances, could not find a way back.
That was the first defeat in seven matches across all competitions for RB Leipzig, who appeared to be building some momentum. Marco Rose's team had picked up five wins in that run and are currently fourth on the standings.
The defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt was also the first for RB Leipzig in eight matches at the Red Bull Arena. They had picked up seven wins in that run, including one of their biggest results of the season, a 6-0 thrashing of FC Koln.
Bayer Leverkusen are yet to taste defeat across all competitions this season and are showing no signs of slowing down. They are four points clear at the top of the standings and will be desperate to shake off the pursuit of champions Bayern Munich, who have a game in hand.
The great thing about Bayer Leverkusen is that they have claimed all kinds of victories and often find ways to win even in difficult games. One of such games came last weekend as they needed an injury time effort from Ezequiel Palacios to earn a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Augsburg.
The win at Augsburg means Bayer Leverkusen have now won eight of their last nine away matches across all competitions. There have been a few high-scoring results in that run, like the 5-2 DFB Pokal victory over Sandhausen back in December.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be anticipating a closely fought encounter, with a win for RB Leipzig priced at 7/5 by Paddy Power while bet365 is offering 13/8 for a Bayer Leverkusen victory. A draw is set at odds of 14/5 by bet365.
Head to head
RB Leipzig have a 7-4 advantage with four draws from 15 previous matches against Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen have won the last two meetings, including a 3-2 victory in the reverse fixture. However, both matches were at BayArena, with Leipzig claiming a 2-0 win in the most recent clash at the Red Bull Arena.
Players to watch
Lois Openda is the leading scorer for RB Leipzig with 11 Bundesliga goals and will be the one to watch on Saturday. The striker was also on target in the reverse fixture and is priced at 7/5 with bet365 to get on the score sheet.
Patrik Schick is expected to continue for injured top scorer Victor Boniface and would be worth keeping an eye on for Bayer Leverkusen. The striker has six goals in his last eight appearances across all competitions and is priced at 13/8 by Betfred to find the net on Saturday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Having produced a five goal thriller in the reverse fixture, the attacking quality on both sides means another high-scoring encounter could be on the cards. Over 4.5 goals is valued at 19/5 by BetVictor while bet365 is offering odds of 6/4 for over 3.5 goals.
There were second half goals for both teams in the reverse fixture and a similar pattern is priced at 13/8 by William Hill.
This German Bundesliga match between RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen will be played on Jan 20, 2024 and kick off at 17:30. Check below for our tipsters best RB Leipzig vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.