Hamburg v Leverkusen Betting Tips: Goals on the cards at Volksparkstadion

Two of the Bundesliga’s under-performing clubs kick off match-day 19 on Friday night as Hamburg play host to Bayer Leverkusen at Volksparkstadion.

As we’ve just passed the half-way point in the Bundesliga campaign, neither of these two will be happy with their current standing and will be hoping that there’s better to come from the remaining 16 fixtures.

In recent years, Leverkusen have been right up there in the race for Champions League football; however, they’re some way off that target this season (currently 9th) and will need to get their skates on if they’re to stand any chance of playing in Europe’s premier competition next season. On the other hand, despite struggling in recent seasons, Hamburg remain a big club in Germany and will undoubtedly be disappointed with the fact that they’re currently languishing inside the relegation places.

Despite being separated by seven places and 11 points, one thing these two have in common is an apparent inability to keep goals out. Defensive frailties are probably why these two are failing to meet their targets right now and it’s hard to be optimistic of either faring much better in this fixture. Keeping this in mind, goals are fancied on Friday night with ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ being the selection that appeals most.

Having conceded 12 goals, Leverkusen have kept just one clean sheet on their travels this season. Such a stat ties in nicely (for punters backing goals at least) with the fact that Hamburg have kept just one clean sheet in front of their own fans this season. On top of this, the hosts are currently in the unenviable position of owning the divisions joint-worst defensive record on home soil.

High-scoring matches certainly haven’t evaded either Hamburg or Leverkusen this season, especially in their relevant home/away fixtures. An ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ bet would have landed in 62% of Hamburg’s home matches and in 75% of Leverkusen’s away outings. The fact that the visiting team have seen both teams find the net in seven of their eight away fixtures also bodes very well ahead of this one.

Hamburg may have struggled from an attacking perspective early on in the campaign, but they’ve certainly improved in this department recently. The hosts have now scored in each of their last four Bundesliga matches at home and are certainly fancied to cause problems for a Leverkusen back-line that has kept just one away clean sheet all season. On the other hand, it would be a surprise if Roger Schmidt’s side weren’t capable of posing a real threat of their own, after all, despite their defensive weaknesses, Bayer have scored in all eight of their away matches during this campaign.

Regardless of who comes out on top, it’s hard to imagine these two attack-minded teams playing out a low-scoring match and it should be very much a case of goals all-round at Volksparkstadion on Friday night.

Click here to see tips for Friday’s La Liga action.