Leverkusen v Ludogorets Europa League Preview

in #sports5 years ago

Bayer Leverkusen host Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad on Thursday evening at the BayArena in a dead rubber group A game in the UEFA Europa league. Leverkusen and FC Zurich both lead group A on 9 points while AEK Larnaca and Ludogorets are on 2 points, all from 4 games played. Whatever happens Bayer and Zurich have qualified while Larnaca and Ludogorets are exiting the tournament at the group stage.

Over their last 10 games in all competitions, Leverkusen have won 5, drawn 2 and lost 3. They are a fairly high scoring side with 2.3 goals scored per match over that period whilst also averaging 1.6 goals against. Their form in the German league has been patchy as they are closer to relegation than the top of the table.

Bayer are 12th in the Bundesliga with 14 points from 12 games played and are only 5 points above relegation compared to 16 points off Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table. They were in real danger of getting into a relegation scrap until matchday 12’s 2-0 win over Stuttgart ensured they put a bit of distance between them and the teams below them. Leverkusen’s Europa league’s fortune has been much better with 3 wins and a loss away at FC Zurich.

Ludogorets Razgrad gave everything to keep their knockout qualification hopes alive on matchday 4 against AEK Larnaca, finishing the game with 19 attempts on goal but ultimately ended the game goalless in a 0-0 draw. Larnaca goalkeeper, Tono, was equal to everything thrown at him. In the Bulgarian Championship, Ludogorets are leading the pack with 41 points from 16 games and have only lost once all season in the league. They have 5 wins and a draw in their past 6 games.

The 7-time Bulgarian champions are still purring in the league despite the departure of erstwhile coach Paulo Autuori in early October. His assistant Antoni Zdravkov has stepped up to replace him and the team has not broken stride in the league. Ludogorets boasts several Brazilians on their payroll and are arguably playing the most attractive football in the Balkans but Europe has been a completely different kettle of fish with 2 points taken in 4 games and qualification entirely ruled out. This is a game with nothing at stake for them but honour.

Ludogorets have lost none of their last 5 away matches and possess a winning streak in the previous 3 away games. The first time these two teams met was on matchday 1 of the Europa league this season. Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz was the hero scoring a brace in a 3-2 winner for Bayer.

Team News

Leverkusen are still without Tin Jedvaj, Joel Pohjanpalo and Thorsten Kirschbaum through muscle, ankle and thigh injuries respectively. Pohjanpalo is not expected to return to the squad until the new year. The key players for Bayer are Lucas Alario, Karim Bellarabi and Kai Havertz. Havertz has 3 goals and 3 assists in the competition.

Ludogorets CM Anicet Andrianantenaina Abel suffered a knee injury in early April and remains out till January. Their key players are Claudiu Keseru, Gustavo Campanharo and Wanderson. Wanderson has 2 goals and 3 assists in the competition.

Verdict

With nothing except top spot to fight for in the group, Leverkusen may want to focus on improving their position in the Bundesliga and hence struggle to fire on all cylinders in this game. Ludogorets are without a win in this group and will seek one here. Still, a draw looks likely.

Sort:  

Going for these bets for the Europa
Bayer Leverkusen - Ludogorets Razgrad =Home
Rosenborg BK - Celtic Glasgow =Home or Draw
FC Girondins Bordeaux - SK Slavia Prague =Draw or Away
RSC Anderlecht - FC Spartak Trnava =Home or Draw
Good luck all

Ludogorets have not been in their best performance lately. They're going to lose this one.

With nothing to play for I don’t see Ludogrets putting up much of a fight and can see Leverkusen winning comfortably.

Hi @stimp1024!

Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 3.530 which ranks you at #6137 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has improved 15 places in the last three days (old rank 6152).

In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 290 contributions, your post is ranked at #213.

Evaluation of your UA score:
  • You're on the right track, try to gather more followers.
  • The readers like your work!
  • Try to improve on your user engagement! The more interesting interaction in the comments of your post, the better!

Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70810.22
ETH 3571.29
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.73