Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich Odds & Prediction – Bundesliga Round 8

• It is Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich in Bundesliga Round 8 on Sunday, October 17 at 9:30am ET
• Bayern tops the table on goal difference ahead of Sunday’s hosts, Leverkusen
• We preview the game, look at the odds, and offer some picks below

First plays second in Round 8 of the Bundesliga on Sunday, October 17 at 9:30am ET in the BayArena when leaders Bayern Munich visit Bayer Leverkusen. Both teams have identical records but Bayern is top of the table with a slightly better goal difference.

We list the odds, preview Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich, and offer below the best picks for this Bundesliga clash.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich Odds

Odds as of October 16 at DraftKings

Leverkusen Off to a Flyer

Bayer Leverkusen’s form could hardly be better as they come into this huge match after emphatically beating Arminia Bielefeld 4-0 just prior to the international break.

Wirtz and Diaby both have 04 Bundesliga goals this season – will one of them pull ahead this weekend? pic.twitter.com/sCWcKyF1Ul

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) October 15, 2021

Gerardo Seoane’s men were dominant throughout against their 16th-placed opponents, and it could easily have been more than four but goals from French winger Moussa Diaby, midfielder Kerem Demirbay and two from Czech hitman Patrik Schick were more than enough to make them joint-leaders after seven games.

🗣 #Seoane:
"We need courage and aggression to press high, but also the understanding to stand deep at times. It will be extremely important that we do both together with the whole team."#B04FCB | #Bayer04 | #Bundesliga pic.twitter.com/YFhF66Qx4v

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) October 15, 2021

Bayern, however, comes into this in a slightly different place after suffering a surprise 2-1 home defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in their final fixture before the international break. Despite starting the game as massive favorites, the Bavarians struggled to find their usual rhythm and even though they took a 29th-minute lead through Leon Goretzka, they were pegged back by their visitors who sealed the three points with an 83rd-minute winner from Filip Kostic.

Enough Quality to Challenge?

This good start to the campaign for Leverkusen follows on from a sixth-place finish last season. That was enough for European qualification but was considered slightly underwhelming, given the quality they have in their squad. This time around they look well set to deliver based on their potential and have put themselves among that small group of teams — BVB, RB Leipzig, and maybe Wolfsburg — who can push Bayern hard for the title.

Indeed, if Leverkusen is serious about challenging at the top, games like this one have to be approached with confidence and it will be a good barometer of whether or not they have enough quality to push on from last season’s sixth place.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich Head-to-Head Stats

Bayern Leads in Head-to-Heads

In terms of head-to-heads, unsurprisingly Bayern leads the way with some comfort, with 21 wins from the teams’ 33 meetings, with six wins for Leverkusen and six draws. In their most recent game, in April, Bayern won 2-0 in the Allianz Arena with goals coming from the Cameroonian Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and German international Joshua Kimmich. The German is expected to start against Leverkusen while Choupo-Moting is likely to be on the bench.

🗣️ @J__Nagelsmann: "When two teams that are next to each other in table face off, then it always makes for a good game. #FCBayern against Leverkusen has always been an exciting fixture. We are looking forward to it." #B04FCB pic.twitter.com/gxlPCIgLFA

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) October 15, 2021

Injury Concerns for Seoane and Nagelsmann

Leverkusen boss Seoane has a few injury worries to contend with ahead of this game with Austrian midfielder Julian Baumgartlinger, Dutch defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah and center-back Edmond Tapsoba all unavailable. There are also concerns around the fitness of Mitchel Bakker, Robert Andrich, and Panagiotis Retsos.

For Bayern’s new coach Julian Nagelsmann there is a general concern around the fitness of the players who have been away on international duty and he will definitely be without keeper Sven Ulreich. They are also monitoring the fitness of French duo Kingsley Comana and Corentin Tolisso, while their compatriot Benjamin Pavard definitely misses out through suspension.

Welcome back to Säbener, @LucasHernandez! 🙌#MiaSanMia #FCBayern pic.twitter.com/pFSja3lgv8

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) October 12, 2021

Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich Prediction

Leverkusen has made an excellent start under the new management of Seoane who, like Nagelsmann, only took over in the summer.

The start he has made in his new role has gone better than even he could have dreamed but this will be by far his biggest test so far. If he can oversee a win over the mighty Bayern, then Leverkusen fans will start to believe he is the real deal.

Nagelsmann’s start at Bayern has been equally as impressive but this will be a test, not least because of the surprise defeat at home to Frankfurt two weekends ago.

The odds unsurprisingly favor Bayern but with both teams having very similar records, this will be much closer than the pundits are predicting. So much so, I actually see some decent value here in the draw, especially if Leverkusen can avoid falling behind early on.

Pick: Leverkusen and Bayern to draw (+370)