On Thursday, starting with 17:55, the Leverkusen – Nice match will be played, within the Europa League group stage. The two teams have never met in European cups, thus being a duel for the first time. Leverkusen and Nice are part of Group C, along with Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) and Hapoel Beer Sheva (Israel).
Leverkusen is going through an acute crisis at the level of the attackers, failing to fill the gaps of the departures of Kai Havertz and Kevin Volland. Patrik Schick has been transferred, but the Czech international is not fully recovered after an injury, being announced unavailable for Thursday’s match. The “Aspirins” come after a hard-fought victory with Mainz, 1-0 away and scored only 3 goals in the first 4 stages of the Bundesliga. In the ranking of the season, Leverkusen is positioned on the 9th place, 4 points away from the leader Leipzig.
On the other hand, Nice returns to the Europa League groups after a two-season break. The French group, coached by Patrick Vieira, comfortably won the last two stages of Ligue 1, 2-1 with Nantes and 3-1 with St. Etienne. After 7 stages, Nice ranks 4th, 4 points behind Lille, the surprise leader in France. Vieira’s team has constantly improved its game and overcame the difficult period of September, when it lost successively with Montpellier (1-3) and Paris Saint-Germain (0-3).
Leverkusen is clearly the favorite, the most valuable team, but the offensive problems are translated into the team’s results. A balanced duel is announced, with few goals, and a draw at the break would not surprise many people.
Leverkusen played in the Champions League last season;
Nice returns to the Europa League groups after a two-season break;
Meeting for the first time between the two bands;
Bayer Leverkusen: Lukas Hradecky, Mitchell Weiser, Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba, Wendell, Charles Aranguiz, Kerem Demirbay, Exequiel Palacios, Karim Bellarabi, Lucas Alario, Moussa Diaby;
OGC Nice: Walter Benitez, Robson Bambu, Dante, Stanley Nsoki, Jordan Lotomba, Khephren Thuram, Morgan Schneiderlin, Hassane Kamara, Rony Lopes, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Amine Gouiri.
PREDICTION: Bayer Leverkusen to win @ 1,50
