Bundesliga: Frankfurt Prove Their European Credentials Against Leverkusen

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bayer Leverkusen

Frankfurt will test their European credentials as they play host to the 2024 Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen, this weekend.

Leverkusen have seemed to park the bus in the past few weeks, but their resilience and sheer talent have kept their spotless streak alive.

Meanwhile, Frankfurt’s past games showed that they’re still not up to par with the elite outfits, but they have a great opportunity this weekend to prove doubters wrong.

Talking Points

Leverkusen showing signs of vulnerability

Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak has faced heavy resistance in the past few weeks, barely pulling it off against Dortmund and Stuttgart in back-to-back Bundesliga bouts.

It was a heavily contested match against BVB at Signal Iduna Park, where both clubs showed competitive efforts from the get-go.

It took 81 minutes for either side to find the back of the net, and it was the home side that took a late lead thanks to Niclas Fulkrug’s opening goal.

At this point, most of the football world, this SBOTOP writer included, thought that Dortmund would be the team to put an end to Leverkusen’s spotless run in the 2023–24 season. But time and time again, Leverkusen just won’t go down without a fight.

It was Josip Stanisic who got it done for Alonso’s Leverkusen, delivering a late leveller seven minutes into added time to keep their magical run alive.

In their following match against Stuttgart, Leverkusen found themselves down two goals 11 minutes into the second half, but thanks to the heroics of Amine Adli and Robert Andrich, Die Werkself’s streak lives on. Additionally, it’s important to note that Andrich’s leveller came six minutes into added time.

Leverkusen needed back-to-back mega clutch efforts to keep their season spotless, but that raises the question: is the third time the charm?

It’s Frankfurt’s turn to take a crack at Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak, but they’re not the most likely outfit to end Alonso’s perfect season, as Frankfurt have been struggling to put up consistent Bundesliga 2024 results mainly against the top teams in the league, so it’ll be interesting to see Dino Toppmöller and his squad are up for the task.

Frankfurt must prove they can hang with the best

Frankfurt currently hold the last European spot in the Bundesliga standings, holding a five-point lead over seventh-placed Freiburg in the standings.

However, with a tough slate ahead of them, Frankfurt are far from a lock for the Europa Conference League, especially with the fact that they’d need to face Leverkusen and RB Leipzig to finish out the season.

Die Alder’s performances in the past few weeks have seen an emerging pattern. Toppmöller’s outfit fairs well against mid- to lower-table teams, but they can’t seem to find the next gear to get past teams in the top five.

They were thrashed by Stuttgart in the middle of April when they visited MHPArena and suffered a clean sheet 3-0 defeat against VfB. But they quickly bounced back in their next outing when they played host to Augsburg. Die Alder came back from an early goal deficit and proceeded to score three goals in the second half, ending the match with a 3-1 victory.

Their most recent match was against the mighty Bavarians at Allianz Arena. In Frankfurt’s defence, they held Bayern within arm’s reach for the most part. However, they just couldn’t find the answers to stop Harry Kane, as the Three Lions skipper delivered a brace to defeat the visiting Frankfurt, extending their lead from Stuttgart to finish the season as the best of the rest.

Now, they’ll face the final boss of the Bundesliga at Deutsche Bank Park, and it’ll be interesting to see if they can capitalise on Leverkusen’s slight woes and prove that they can tussle with one, if not the best, team in Germany.

History

These German rivals have faced each other 37 times in the past decade, and in those matches, Bayer Leverkusen have won the majority with 20 wins, while Frankfurt have won 13 and tallied a draw three times.

It seems that their offensive prowess is always on full display whenever these clubs share the pitch, as they’ve tallied three or more total goals in their past three matches, while tallying less just once since 2019.

In their most recent match, Leverkusen wiped the floor with Frankfurt at BayArena, dismantling the visiting Frankfurt 3-0.

Betting Tip

The Bundesliga 2024 betting odds suggest that the clash at Deutsche Bank Park would be an all-out dog fight, as neither team boasts of being the glaring favourites to win. As expected, Frankfurt are the underdogs, but not as much as most would expect. Leverkusen are the slight favourites at 2.22, but Frankfurt are right there at 2.85 with a draw price of 3.31.

To have the Bundesliga champions at 2.22 poses immense value that’s too glaring for punters to turn away from. Despite their recent woes, Bayer Leverkusen are still the best team in Germany, and a price of 2.22 definitely gives more than enough value and excitement for punters to consider.

 

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