Bayer Leverkusen v 1899 Hoffenheim
Football ; Germany : Bundesliga
Bay Arena
Saturday, 23rd April 2011 – kickoff 15:30

Bayer Leverkusen

After they received a heavy 5-1 hammering by Bayern Munich last weekend, Bayer Leverkusen will enter this match much more motivated to show a good performance, so they can make up for that loss in front of their own fans.

That loss was first in almost three months for Bayer Leverkusen and finally their unbeaten series of eight straight matches (seven wins, one draw) came to an end.

Also Bayer Leverkusen home form has been great in the recent weeks as they are in a superb series of five wins in a row at their Bay Arena.

Good team news is that coach Jupp Heynckess can count on all players and there are no injured or suspended players for this match.

Stefan Kiessling (six goals scored) will be the only striker in the formation, and interestingly Bayer Leverkusen have the strongest midfield in the Bundesliga with the defensive midfielder Arturo Vidal having scored eight goals so far, and the wingers Sidney Sam and Renato Augusto have scored seven goals each for Bayer Leverkusen.

Probable Bayer Leverkusen line-up :
Adler,
Castro, Schwaab, Reinartz, Kadlec,
Vidal, Rolfes,
Sam, Ballack, Renato Augusto,
Kiessling

1899 Hoffenheim

1899 Hoffenheim have nothing left to play for this season as they are safe at the ninth place at the table without chance for Europe or to be relegated.

Last weekend they beat 1-0 Eintracht Frankfurt and reached the magic 40 point mark so now are pretty relaxed in front of the last four season matches.

They are already making plans for the next season and the first step the team has made is they had signed the current coach of St.Pauli, Holger Stanislawski who will coach this team starting from next season.

The team captain Andreas Beck will be back in the starting line up after missing the last match due five yellow cards suspension, so that means that the other right back Tobias Weis will be benched. That should be the only change in the starting line up since the last match.

The Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic will be paired with Ryan Babel in the attack, and while Babel struggles to find his form since joining 1899 Hoffenheim in January, Ibisevic is the best team striker with eight goals scored so far this season.

Probable 1899 Hoffenheim line-up :
Starke,
Beck, Vorsah, Compper, Braafheid,
Rudy, Ibertsberger, Sigurdsson, Alaba,
Babel, Ibisevic

The Betting Verdict

There were total of five matches played between Bayer Leverkusen and 1899 Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen have won four of them and the last match had ended in 2-2 draw in the first part of the current season.

Bayer Leverkusen are simply much stronger team than 1899 Hoffenheim. Hosts need to bounce back from the heavy defeat they got last week, plus they are now just six points above Bayern Munich with four matches to go and need to lock up the second place as soon as possible, so they can focus on the next season plans.

1899 Hoffenheim are playing without any pressure whatsoever, and that is good for the team as they can surprise when no one expects them to do so, but i doubt that will happen in this match. Bayer Leverkusen are simply the better team and will push for the win as they need it. Home win for Bayer Leverkusen is the call in this match.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Bayer Leverkusen-1899 Hoffenheim 3-1

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Home win for Bayer Leverkusen for a price of 1.57 at Paddy Power