Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the DFB-Pokal match.
Just this past weekend Borussia Dortmund and Bayer 04 Leverkusen met in the Bundesliga. On that occasion Borussia Dortmund were stronger away from home (2:1), and now, to reach the quarter-finals, they just need to consolidate that success.
Borussia Dortmund
Away to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund ceded possession and chose to play on the counter-attack. As it turned out, this was a very good decision. Despite only 37% possession, the hosts outperformed Bayer 04 Leverkusen (0.99-0.81 in xG) and produced four shots on target. We doubt that anything will prevent them from reproducing this game plan again.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s squad have been badly hit by injuries, and the team have suffered most in defence, losing Lucas Vázquez and Arthur Augusto. As a result, Robert Andrich, who is naturally a central midfielder, had to be used at centre-back. To be fair, even in the wins over Manchester City (2:0) and Wolfsburg (3:1) there were a lot of questions about them: overall they conceded 3.91 xGA and allowed 17 shots on target.
Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen Prediction
In previous matches Bayer 04 Leverkusen won only thanks to some outstanding saves from Mark Flekken, whereas Borussia Dortmund have already shown that they can convert their chances. In front of their own fans it will be much easier for the hosts to do this, so we expect them to reach the quarter-finals.
