Betting.Betfair.com
·12 May 2024
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·12 May 2024
Bochum v Bayer LeverkusenSunday 12 May, 18:30Live on Sky Sports
We had success in Argentina overnight, as our boys Aldosivi won 1-0 at struggling Brown, and we're slightly in profit for the week.
We'll head to Germany's Ruhr region now, because an amazing Bayer Leverkusen side have the chance to reach 50 competitive games unbeaten, and I think they'll do so in style against Bochum.
Bochum were actually the last team to beat Xabi Alonso and company, all the way back in May last year, and since then Bayer have made an amazing series of leaps. They have won their first ever Bundesliga title, they have reached the final of the DFB Pokal (they'll face second-tier Kaiserslautern later this month) and on Thursday they made it through to the final of the Europa League in dramatic fashion.
Bayer had their 2-0 first-leg lead wiped out by Roma, but an own goal saw the deficit on the night halved, before Josip Stanisic grabbed a stoppage-time leveller to keep the unbeaten run going. Leverkusen have dug deep time and time again to score with seconds remaining of games, and their ability to score when it counts is truly extraordinary.
Xabi Alonso clearly had this game in mind when he left Victor Boniface and Florian Wirtz on the bench against Roma, and I'd expect them to return here.
Bochum aren't quite safe from relegation despite their dramatic 4-3 win at Union Berlin last weekend, but I expect them to struggle here. They have lost six of their last ten games, and they are facing the best side in the division by miles. I think Bayer's price of 1.84/5 to win here is actually quite generous.