Matchday 6 of the Uefa Champions League continues on Wednesday night when our focus is on Bayer Leverkusen v Newcastle and Real Madrid v Manchester City
Bayer Leverkusen v Newcastle
It’s been an up and down tournament for Leverkusen who have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1 of their matches so far and they finished Round 5 in seventeenth position with 8 points.
They had to wait for Matchday 4 for their first win, 1-0 away to Benfica but they have since followed up with 2-0 victory away to Manchester City in the previous round to put them right back in contention for the knockout rounds. Other points came in the first 2 rounds, score draws at Copenhagen and at home to PSV whilst on Matchday 3 Leverkusen crashed and burned 7-2 at home to PSG.
In the Bundesliga Leverkusen are fourth with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats, 14 points behind runaway leaders Bayern, 6 shy of Leipzig and 5 adrift of Dortmund. They have lost back to back league games in recent weeks, 2-1 at home to Dortmund and 2-0 away to Augsburg.
Newcastle have won 3 and drawn 2 of their matches and they finished Round 5 in eleventh position.
They recovered from losing their opening CL match at home to Barcelona (2-1) with a 4-0 win away to Union SG, a 3-0 home victory over Benfica and a 2-0 home win over Bilbao but in Round 5 they went down 2-1 away to Marseille.
In the EPL Newcastle have taken 10 points from their last 4 outings and have moved into mid table. They have only won once away from home (at Everton) in the league this season and on Sunday they have a huge derby away to Sunderland.
The Verdict
Newcastle still have to visit PSG in two rounds time and if they don’t win here a play off place would look the most likely outcome. Leverkusen seem to blow hot and cold so I’m swerving the match result but will take Woltemade “Anytime” as my idea of a goalscorer.
Bets: Anytime goalscorer Woltemade at 17/10 with Sportingbet
Note prices quoted are subject to change
Real Madrid v Man City
Real have won 4 and lost 1 of their matches so far and they finished Round 5 in fifth position, one of four teams on 12 points who were 3 points shy of Arsenal who set the pace. Their only defeat so far came against English opposition, 1-0 at Liverpool in Round 4 and last time out they needed 4 goals from Mbappe to come away from Olympiakos with a 4-3 win. In earlier games Real won at home to Marseille (2-1) and Juventus (1-0) either side of a 5-1 win at Kairat.
In La Liga Real are in second spot but a 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo at the weekend, their only dropped points at home so far, means the gap to Barca has grown to 4 points. They have won just 1 of their last 5 league outings alongside 3 draws and that loss to Celta.
City rang the changes in the previous round and paid the price in their surprise 2-0 home defeat to Leverkusen. Prior to that they were unbeaten with 3 wins and 1 draw, starting with a 2-0 home victory over Napoli before a 2-2 draw at Monaco. They came away from Villarreal with a 2-0 victory and they thrashed Dortmund 4-1 in Manchester on Matchday 4.
In the EPL City were 3-0 winners at home to Sunderland last weekend, they are in second spot and have narrowed the gap to league leaders Arsenal to just 2 points on the back of 8 wins in their last 10.
The Verdict
These teams met in the play offs for a last 16 spot last season and Real won both legs. City look much improved this time around whilst Real, and their coach, are under pressure after some indifferent La Liga results and an over reliance on Mbappe to score the goals.
The bookmakers are struggling to name a favourite and I can see why. A win for either side would boost their hopes of a top 8 finish and automatic qualification as both have very winnable looking matches to come. Last season 16 points was good enough for eight place in the League Phase and it could be that the value lies in the draw here, an outcome which would leave both teams on course to better that.
Bets: Match result draw at 28/10 with Sportingbet
Note prices quoted are subject to change