Borussia Monchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen will open their Bundesliga title defence against Borussia Monchengladbach when they pay a visit to Borussia-Park on Friday to kickstart their 2024-25 league campaign.
Die Werkself have already played their first match of the season on Sunday, as they beat VfB Stuttgart in the DFL-Supercup via penalties. Because of how the game went, that should keep them sharp ahead of this weekend.
The Foals have also started their season on a good note by defeating third-tier side Erzgebirge Aue with a score of 3-1 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
But unlike Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach have a lot of work to do to achieve their main objective, which is to return to European football.
Borussia Monchengladbach have shown they can hang with Bayer Leverkusen before, but can they outdo themselves this time?
Talking Points
New weapons for Borussia Monchengladbach
Since their P4 finish in 2019-20, Borussia Monchengladbach haven’t made it back to Europe, and they’re coming off their worst finish in quite some time, when they were 14th in 2023-24.
So, in an attempt to turn around their fortunes, the Foals have been fairly busy in the transfer market this summer.
According to the Bundesliga 2024 updates, they’ve managed to acquire Tim Kleindienst, Kevin Stoger, and Philipp Sander for a combined fee of only €8 million, and they’re not done yet because they’re reportedly keeping an eye on Tomas Palacios of Independiente Rivadavia.
Tim Kleindienst adds to the Foals’ firepower in the final third, as he was Heidenheim’s leading scorer last term with 12 league goals and four assists. With him on board, head coach Gerardo Seoane now has him, Alassane Plea, Robin Hack, Tomas Cvancara, and Jordan Siebatcheu to choose from.
Their midfield depth also got a huge boost with the additions of Kevin Stoger and Philipp Sander. Stoger was VfL Bochum’s leading scorer last season with seven league goals and nine assists, while Sander will be a rotation player for Seoane.
Gerardo Seoane had Tim Kleindienst playing the solo No. 9 role, while Alassane Plea, Kevin Stoger, and Franck Honorat were behind him against Erzgebirge Aue. Don’t be surprised if the Swiss boss does the same thing on Friday.
Bayer Leverkusen still have the clutch gene
Bayer Leverkusen brought home their first piece of silverware this season in the form of the DFB-Pokal after outlasting VfB Stuttgart.
Victor Boniface gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 lead, but Enzo Millot and Deniz Undav made it 2-1 in favour of VfB Stuttgart. Despite going down to 10 men after Martin Terrier’s red card in the 37th minute, Die Werkself came back through Patrik Schick’s late equaliser to force a penalty shootout.
Misses by Silas and Frans Kratzig sealed the deal for Bayer Leverkusen, although it’s worth noting that Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah, Patrik Schick, Alejandro Grimaldo, and Jeremie Frimpong all came off the bench in this game.
Manager Xabi Alonso will likely recall them back into the starting XI since they’ll have fresher legs against Borussia Monchengladbach.
History
Borussia Monchengladbach are winless in their last nine Bundesliga games against Bayer Leverkusen (D2, L7). The last time the Foals beat Die Werkself was a 2-1 result in November 2019.
However, Borussia Monchengladbach were one of the rare teams that made Bayer Leverkusen drop points last season by holding them to a goalless draw in their January tiff.
Bayer Leverkusen are the defending league champions after becoming the first team to go undefeated across an entire Bundesliga campaign last term.
The previous season’s Bundesliga champions have never lost on the opening matchday in each of the last 22 seasons (W17, D5). The last club to beat the title-holders on matchday 1 was, you guessed it, Borussia Monchengladbach in 2001, when they notched a 1-0 home win against Bayern Munich.
Betting Tip
The Bundesliga 2024 odds are in favour of Die Werkself winning their league match of the season on Friday. Bayer Leverkusen are 1.56 favourites to win, whereas Borussia Monchengladbach are 4.62 underdogs, and a draw is at 4.09 in the 1X2 market.
Other than our recommended bet above, SBOTOP bettors can opt for alternatives like Over 2.75 at 1.60, Over 3.00 at 1.80, or even Total Goals 4-6 at 2.51, while Total Goals 2-3 at 2.18 seems like a safer choice.
On the other hand, if Borussia Monchengladbach supporters fancy their team’s chances of getting at least a point from this contest, then check out the Correct Score of 0-0 – the result of their previous meeting – given its huge 20.00 offer.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT))
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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