Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros – Analysis, Prediction, Team News

As part of our Europa League Predictions, we take a look at Ferencvaros away at Leverkusen. Leverkusen are hitting form at the right time – can they keep their momentum going? Read on with our Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros prediction.

Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros Match Preview

Despite losing their Europa League Playoff home leg against Monaco 3-2, Leverkusen managed a mirror image of that scoreline in Monaco where they triumphed after extra time and penalties. Their reward is a meeting with Hungarian champions Ferencvaros, who managed to top a difficult Group H containing Monaco, Trabzonspor and Crvena Zvezda. A Europa League run will go some way towards compensating for the disappointment of their Champions League campaign in which they finished some way off second-placed Club Brugge, earning just five points from six matches. Only Atletico Madrid’s equally poor form spared Leverkusen the ignominy of no further European football.

Leverkusen’s impressive victory over Monaco has helped to kickstart their domestic season in the Bundesliga which has been disappointing for much of the campaign and was in danger of total collapse following three defeats in four matches. A highly creditable 1-1 draw away to Freiburg was followed up by a comprehensive 4-1 home victory over Hertha Berlin. While there’s evidently still much work to be done, the fact that Leverkusen find themselves with even an outside chance of European football this season is something of a minor miracle, and they’ll feel more confident coming into this one.

As we mentioned previously, Ferencvaros topped their Europa League Group ahead of Monaco, Turkish champions Trabzonspor and Serbian champions Crvena Zvezda. Clearly, the Hungarians will be no pushovers, as cliched as that sounds, but we must pay attention to what they’ve managed to achieve this season on a much smaller budget. Highlights of their Europa League group campaign include going unbeaten against group favourites Monaco which went a long way to securing their qualification for the knockout stages.

Domestically, while Ferencvaros have only won four of their eight OTP Bank Liga matches following the restart (drawing the other four), they’re currently well on track to win their fifth league title in a row as they’re 14 points clear of second-placed Kecskemeti. Ferencvaros’ strong position within the Hungarian game and the competitive advantage that goes with it has enabled them to heavily rotate their playing squad this season, which means that they should be coming into this match with a starting XI that isn’t feeling the effects of cumulative fatigue quite as much as some of their Europa League rivals in this condensed club season.

Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Leverkusen:

Might Not Play: Bakker

Will Not Play: Andrich, Aranguiz, Frimpong, Lunev, Palacios

Ferencvaros:

Might Not Play:

Will Not Play: Besic, Owusu, Sagal, Trimboli

Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros Lineups (Predicted)

Leverkusen (4-3-3): Hradecky; Hincapie, Tapsoba, Tah; Fosu-Mensah; Palacios, Amiri, Demirbay; Diaby, Wirtz, Schick

Ferencvaros (4-2-3-1): Dibusz; Civic, Knoester, S. Mmaee, Botka; Esiti, Vecsei; Marquinhos, Zachariassen, Traore; R. Mmaee

Our Prediction

For those who perhaps aren’t familiar with Europa League competitors outside of the bigger leagues, this match will be far more keenly contested than perhaps they realise. Ferencvaros are here on merit; their group stage matches against Monaco where they earned four points and held their own in terms of both possession and shots on target suggests that this is no 30% possession, 1 or 2 shots giant-killing spree that we sometimes see in the group stages. While Leverkusen hold home advantage, they have lost three of their last five matches in all competitions including a 3-2 reversal to Monaco in the qualification round.

That said, Leverkusen have shown some improvement of late, and they were good value for their 3-2 away victory over Monaco in the second leg of that tie. They attacked directly and accurately in transition with purpose and were deservedly 2-1 in front at halftime against the French side who were generally expected to win. Alonso’s men have followed up with a good point away to a tricky Freiburg team who are currently 11 points clear of Leverkusen with a formidable home record (W7 D3 L1), and a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Hertha Berlin.

We can see the signs of renewed confidence here, but with Leverkusen rarely keeping clean sheets; zero in their last eight matches in all competitions; we’re not backing them to keep one here either. A hard-fought, narrow victory should set them up well for the return leg in Hungary.

Leverkusen 2-1 Ferencvaros

Leverkusen vs Ferencvaros Betting Tip – Over 2.5 Goals Odds: