Bundesliga: Champions League Spot on the Line for Leverkusen

Hertha Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen

There’s still so much to play for on the final day of the Bundesliga season. After Bayern Munich could only draw against RB Leipzig last week, Borussia Dortmund still have a shot to win the title if they beat Gladbach and Bayern lose at home against Eintracht Frankfurt.

But the top two are not the only ones who have a lot on the line. Bayer Leverkusen also have so much at stake in their final match against Hertha Berlin: a spot in the Champions League.

The Hertha Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen betting odds favour an away win, which could be enough to see Leverkusen steal fourth. However, Hertha have rediscovered how to win in recent games and will be all too happy to spoil Leverkusen’s European ambitions.

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Serie A

Talking Points

Hertha back to winning ways

Hertha Berlin had the feel of a team that had already begun summer vacation back in February. They were comfortably in mid-table — not close enough to challenge for Europe and also not in much danger of relegation. Perhaps due to this lack of incentive, their results quickly fell off a cliff.

From late February to mid-April, Hertha went on a disastrous run of six defeats in seven games. Granted, three of those defeats were against the top three teams in the table — Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and RB Leipzig — but they also lost winnable games against Freiburg and Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Hertha’s winless drought lasted for seven consecutive matches after back-to-back goalless draws against relegated Hannover at home as well as an Eintracht Frankfurt side looking ahead to their Europa League semi-final against Chelsea.

But finally, Hertha once again tasted victory by beating relegation play-off-bound Stuttgart at home, 3-1. And they followed that up with a thrilling 4-3 victory away from home against Augsburg.

Veteran Salomon Kalou played a big part in those victories with three goals. Forwards Ondrej Duda and Vedad Ibisevic also got on the scoresheet for Hertha. Those three have contributed 29 of Hertha’s 48 league goals this season and will be crucial to their success against Leverkusen.

Bundesliga: Can Hertha Berlin win in front of their home supporters against Bayer Leverkusen? — Hertha Berlin Players celebrate after scoring their third goal against VfB Stuttgart

Leverkusen’s late surge

Back in early March, Bayer Leverkusen were up in fifth place and looked well on their way toward qualifying for Europe next season. But suddenly, they suffered three consecutive losses which sent them crashing down to eighth.

To be fair to Leverkusen, they did have quite a tough three-game stretch which saw them go up against Werder Bremen — who hadn’t lost in 2019 at that point — as well as Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig.

Luckily, though, Leverkusen have been able to right their Bundesliga 2019 results in a big way. They’re unbeaten in their last five matches and had recently won four games in a row.

That impressive run was finally snapped last weekend as they suffered a shock 1-1 draw at home against struggling Schalke. That result was even more surprising considering Leverkusen had just hammered Augsburg (4-1) and Eintracht Frankfurt (6-1) in their previous two outings.

Those two dropped points could have seen Leverkusen in the driver’s seat for that final Champions League place. But now, they must pick up more points against Hertha than Gladbach do against Dortmund in their last match.

Leverkusen do have quite a strong away record this season. They’ve won eight of their 16 matches away from home — tied for third-most in the league — with their six losses all coming against teams inside the top eight in the league.

History

Hertha Berlin and Leverkusen have squared off against each other 45 times in total. Leverkusen hold the significant edge in wins with 23 to Hertha’s 11. Six of Hertha’s 11 wins have been at home.

There has been a winner in their last 11 matchups, with Leverkusen claiming eight of them. But two of Hertha’s three victories have come in their last three meetings.

Leverkusen snapped Hertha’s back-to-back win streak by coming out on top in their first meeting this season at the BayArena, 3-1, thanks to two goals from promising teenage star Kai Havertz.

Betting Tip

	Hertha Berlin vs Bayer Leverkusen	Bayer Leverkusen Asian Handicap -1.50 @ 2.19
	May 18, 21:30 (GMT+8)

While Hertha have done well to end the season on a bit of a high, they are still not a particularly impressive side. The teams they’ve beaten recently are near the bottom of the table and don’t have much left to play for — just like Hertha.

As for Leverkusen, they still have a huge prize to play for and should perform accordingly. Moreover, they have a lot of goals in their side, which should give them a good chance to pick up a comfortable away win.

That’s why I believe taking Leverkusen -1.50 on the SBOBET Asian handicap sports betting market is the way to go in this match.