Bayer Leverkusen look to maintain their perfect start to this UEFA Europa League (UEL) campaign when they host a pointless Marseille side for a first-ever H2H.
Match News and Current Form
Leverkusen have started to wobble in recent weeks, conceding nine times across their last three games in all competitions (W1, L2) since beating OFI Crete on matchday three. That’s in stark contrast to Die Werkself’s UEL fortunes as they’re the only side to keep a clean sheet in each of the first three matchdays, netting eight unanswered goals across their trio of wins. Boss Carles Martínez Novell now targets a first win inside 90 minutes against Marseille as a manager (D4, L3) and will take confidence from Leverkusen avoiding defeat in their last ten UEL home games (W7, D3), while they were unbeaten at the BayArena since April before losing to Stuttgart here on Saturday (W6, D1).
Marseille are hitting their stride domestically, with Sunday’s 2-0 win over Toulouse a fourth in succession in Ligue 1. Woven in between those victories have been UEL defeats, with Bruno Génésio’s men languishing near the bottom of the table after three losses in as many league phase outings this term. Marseille have netted just once across a five-match losing streak in major European competitions, and that streak looks unlikely to end here given that they’ve lost ten of their last 15 away matches in all competitions (W4, D1), failing to score in eight of those defeats.
Head-to-Head History
Marseille have lost ten of their last 12 meetings with German teams in major European competitions (W1, D1), while Leverkusen’s last home game against French opposition ended in a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of PSG.
Hot Stats and Streaks
Leverkusen recorded the most shots (72) and joint-most shots on target (33) across the first three UEL matchdays.
Four of Leverkusen’s eight UEL goals this term came between the 31st minute and half-time.
Marseille won the corner count in each of their last five games in all competitions.
Eight of Marseille’s last ten matches produced an odd number of goals.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Ibrahim Maza was on the losing side at the weekend for the first time when scoring for Leverkusen (W7) - four of his last five goals for the club came beyond the hour mark. Marseille’s Amine Gouiri has been involved in four goals in his last four games (G2, A2), while three of his last four strikes in this competition came inside the opening 30 minutes.
Leverkusen’s lengthy absentee list includes Nathan Tella and Moussa Diaby. Emerson and Amine Harit were both forced off through injury in Marseille’s weekend outing.
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Betting Analysis
Marseille’s vulnerability on the road in Europe is hard to ignore, and makes Leverkusen to win by a -2 handicap a potential route to value here.
Author: Ryan Fisher