Bayer Leverkusen vs Lazio Prediction and Preview – 26/08/15
Champions League preview – Bayer Leverkusen vs Lazio prediction
Bayer Leverkusen are likely to be unchanged from the team which narrowly lost the first leg in Rome last week. Attacking midfielder Heung-Min Son has a domestic suspension but should come back in to the team, having missed the 1-0 win at Hannover on the weekend. Charles Aranguiz and Tim Jedvej are still out injured and won’t be in the squad.
Lazio travel to Germany for the second leg with a couple of important first team players missing. In addition to goalkeeper Federico Marchetti and striker Filip Djordjevic, who also missed the first leg, captain Lucas Biglia and experienced striker Miroslav Klose are both struggling to make the match. Keita Balde and Danilo Cataldi could come in to midfield and attack.
Possible Line-ups
Bayer Leverkusen: 4-2-3-1 formation: Leno; Hilbert, Tah, Papadopoulos, Wendell; Bender, Kramer; Bellarabi, Calhanoglu, Son; Kiessling
Lazio: 4-3-3 formation: Berisha; Basta, De Vrij, Mauricio, Lulic; Parolo, Cataldi, Onazi; Anderson, Balde, Candreva
- Bayer Leverkusen have won 5, drawn 2 and lost 3 of their last 10 matches
- Lazio have won 4, drawn 1 and lost 5 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Bayer Leverkusen have scored an average of 1.6 goals and conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Lazio have scored an average of 1.1 goals and conceded an average of 1.5 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Bayer Leverkusen’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Lazio’s previous 10 matches
- Lazio have lost only one of their last 11 away fixtures in UEFA competition
Both teams come in to this Champions League play-off second leg having made good starts to their domestic league season. Lazio won their opening match of the Serie A season on Saturday, defeating Bologna at home 2-1 and Bayer Leverkusen won their second match in succession in the Bundesliga, beating Hannover 1-0 away from home.
Bayer Leverkusen have beaten some good teams at home in the Champions League over recent years, including Atletico Madrid, Benfica and Zenit St Petersburg and will feel confident of defeating a weakened Lazio team. However, without the security of an away goal, Lazio know that if they manage to find the back of the net first, things could become increasingly difficult for the hosts.
Leverkusen have scored 2 goals or more in 7 of their last 8 competitive matches at the BayArena and may need at least 3 to progress, if Lazio manage to score.
We say: Bayer Leverkusen to win by 2 goals at 7/2 with Bet365
What are your predictions?