German Bundesliga
2010-02-13 - Bayer Leverkusen vs Vfl Wolfsburg
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Football : Germany : Bundesliga
Bay Arena
Saturday, 13th February 2010 – kickoff 15:30
Bayer Leverkusen
The lead on the table that Bayer Leverkusen used to have now is melted and they share the top on level points with Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 who are also breathing at their necks with three points behind.
Last week Vfl Bochum have held the leaders to 1-1 draw which seemed like a loss for Bayer Leverkusen. Now they will face an unpredictable opponent who can be very dangerous, although they do not play the same way they did last season.
Bayer Leverkusen are taking this match seriously and they also have used this last week to arrange and play a friendly match against MSV Duisburg during midweek which also ended 1-1.
Arturo Vidal will not play in this match and will be replaced by Gonzalo Castro in the midfield which will be the only change in the team from last week.
Lars Bender got some playing time in the friendly match after long time injury layoff but he is still not match fit and is not expected to take part in this match.
Vfl Wolfsburg
Vfl Wolfsburg are dropping rapidly at the table and are approaching the dangerous relegation zone. They are currently at the 13th spot with 25 points, 8 points above the relegation places.
They seem really disorganized at the moment which was obvious last week when they were dominated at home by Bayer Munich and Graffite has also missed a penalty in that match.
They replaced the coach Armin Veh with former coach of the reserve team Lorenz-Gunther Kostner who has stepped up to try to do something more with this team until permanent replacement is found. However, the team continued with the bad displays and they still can not find the way out of the crisis they are in.
Of course, there will be some changes from last week. The playmaker Zvezdan Misimovic is expected to start the match from the bench and his place in the starting line up will be taken by Karim Ziani.
Bad news for the team will be the absence of the second choice goalkeeper Andre Lenz who has injured his foot during training session last week. So, after the injury of the first choice goalkeeper Andre Bernaglio now even the second choice goalkeeper had a bad luck and put more pressure and worries for the coach.
The young and not that experienced goalkeeper Marwin Hitz will have his debut in the top flight football as he is the only goalkeeper of the team now and has to step up in case Lenz does not recover by Saturday.
The Betting Verdict
These teams have played total of 25 games so far in the Bundesliga from which Bayer Leverkusen have won twelve times, Wolfsburg won nine times and four matches were drawn.
Bayer Leverkusen are holding the second best defense in the league with just 17 goals conceded and on the other hand Wolfsburg have the worst defense in the league with massive 42 goals conceded.
Interesting fact is that none of the previous 25 duels of these teams have ended goalless, and also Vfl Wolfsburg have never won in Leverkusen.
In the first match this season, Bayer Leverkusen won in Wolfsburg 3-2.
I expect this to be an open match with offensive football. Bayer Leverkusen are attacking team, as well as Wolfsburg, but Wolfsburg`s defense is terrible.
Bayer Leverkusen have to win in order to keep the first place and Wolfsburg desperately needs points in order to avoid relegation battle which promises open match with few goals and probably betting on goals is better than betting on a straight winner in this match.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Vfl Wolfsburg (or 2-2)
BEST BETTING TIP :
