Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague Prediction: Wirtz can secure qualification

We’ve got a ridiculous amount of Champions League fixtures coming our way on Wednesday night and thanks to the new league system, we are in for an extremely intriguing final gameweek. It’s not been everybody’s cup of tea, and the extra games are a pain, but we should be in line for some drama. 

One of those games see German giants Bayer Leverkusen host Sparta Prague. Unfortunately the Czech side are already out of the competition, but Xabi Alonso’s men will be looking to avoid the knockout phase play-offs. Below you can find my Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague predictions. 

Team News

The Bundesliga champions currently sit six points off Bayern Munich in the league, and they will be without Piero Hincapie for this one as he serves a one-match ban. We can expect the likes of Exequiel Palacios, Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong to return to the starting XI for this home game. 

A win will secure their place in the top eight, but Amine Adli is out with a broken leg, Jeanuel Belocian has done his ACL and Martin Terrier has an Achilles issue that will also rule him out. Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz will look to do the damage in the final third once again for Alonso’s men. 

Sparta Prague are likely to be without Imanol Garcia de Albeniz, Angelo Preciado, and Albion Rrahmani, while Indrit Tuci and Elias Cobbaut are both doubts. Lars Friis could name a similar side to the one that only lost 1-0 to Inter Milan last week, with Victor Olatunji and Veljko Birmancevic set to lead the line together. 

Bayer Leverkusen vs Sparta Prague Odds

Bayern Leverkusen are 1/8 to win this game, giving them an implied win probability of 88%, having picked up 13 points from their league matches so far. Sparta Prague are the rank outsiders at 18/1 while a draw can be backed at 9/1. The Czech outfit have won one, drawn one and lost five in Europe so far this season. 

Over 2.5 goals can be backed at a price of 1/3, having come in during Leverkusen’s last European outing, while BTTS is 11/10. Victor Boniface is the favourite to score first at 3/1, and he is just 7/10 to find the net at any time. 

Bayern Leverkusen to win to nil @ 4/5

Leverkusen will be desperate to avoid those two extra play-off games, and they’ve got a relatively kind tie to negotiate here. They should be able to beat Sparta Prague to nil based on what we have seen from them so far in this competition. Although they threw away a 1-0 lead against 10-man Atletico Madrid last time out, their home form has been solid and they are unbeaten in their last 12 European matches at the BayArena (W9 D3). 

Sparta Prague are out of this competition and have lost five in seven, including losing 4-2 to a Feyenoord team that Leverkusen beat 4-0 on matchday one. They also have the big derby against Slavia Prague to consider just four days later, so I’m expecting a one-sided clash here. Sparta Prague have also lost their last six games in Europe against German opposition, with their last victory coming over Werder Bremen in 1992/93. 

Florian Wirtz to score anytime @ 21/20

I’m going to back the best player on the pitch to score a goal in this one, it really is as simple as that. Did you know that Leverkusen have never lost back-to-back games in Europe under Alonso, and given they lost last time out, we can expect them to return to winning ways, and for Wirtz to star. 

One of the key men at Euro 2024 for Germany, he has shown his class yet again in the Champions League this term and is one of only three players to have scored at least five goals (five), created 10 or more chances from open play (18) and completed 10 or more dribbles (16) in this season's Champions League, along with Vinicius Jr and Raphinha. Not bad company to keep and so I think he will be able to find the net against weaker opposition. 

Offers

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Wednesday's Champions League Predictions:

The team here at Betfred Insights have you fully-covered for the final round of Champions League matches this Wednesday. You can check out all of our previews for the matches below:

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