Relegation looks an inevitability as far as Darmstadt are concerned, but they’ve been faring far better on home soil of late, picking up pleasing victories against the likes of Mainz and Dortmund. The hosts could quite easily get competitive against a Leverkusen who’re without a win in five.
With Darmstadt’s current situation in mind, it’s not surprising that Leverkusen are the favourites for this one, but the visitors have hardly been thriving of late and, therefore, look far too short. The bet that does stand out is ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’.
The hosts might be isolated at the foot of the table, but in recent home matches they’ve proven themselves to be a more than adequate opponent, as both Mainz and Dortmund have found out in recent weeks. Defensively, having kept just two clean sheets on their own patch, Torsten Frings’ men have struggled, but, in recent weeks, their efforts in front of goal have greatly improved. Darmstadt have now found the net in each of their last four home matches, scoring a total of six goals in the process.
During recent 2-1 victories over both Mainz and Dortmund, Darmstadt showed that they are capable of mixing it with the better teams at this level, thriving on the counter in particular. Given the attacking nature of Leverkusen’s approach, the hosts should be afforded plenty of counter-attacking space in this one so shouldn’t be discounted from an attacking point of view. After all, the visitors have been anything but secure at the back of late.
Last weekend, when drawing 3-3 with Wolfsburg, Tayfun Korkut’s Leverkusen once again showcased their ability to hurt teams in the final third; however, that match was yet another illustration of the fact that they just cannot be trusted at the back. The visitors have now played six Bundesliga matches since they last kept a clean sheet, while they’ve managed to shut out their opposition just once on the road all season. Worrying statistics indeed for a team whose general aim is to qualify for the Champions League.
With just three clean sheets between them in their respective home and away matches this season, preventing teams from scoring is something that these two find incredibly hard to pull off and it would be something of a surprise if either managed to do so in this fixture. In addition, high-scoring matches have been a regular occurrence at Darmstadt’s Jonathan-Heimes-Stadion in recent weeks with ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ landing in each of the last four Bundesliga matches at the venue.
‘Over 2.5 Goals’ has also landed in 67% of Leverkusen’s away matches during this campaign, all of which saw both teams score. This match is expected to follow suit and thus backing ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ is the way to do it.
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