Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis conclude pre-season with Saturday's friendly match at BayArena.
The German champions seek to respond to their recent beatdown by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, while the LaLiga side aim to avoid defeat for the third match running.
Match preview
Leverkusen may have lost one match throughout 2023-24, but the Bundesliga champions were annihilated at the Emirates on Wednesday in their penultimate pre-season match.
Xabi Alonso's men were defeated 4-1 in North London as they fell to a heavy loss in only their third tune-up game ahead of the upcoming campaign, with Arsenal showcasing their quality and superior sharpness in their fourth off-season fixture.
The reverse means Die Werkself have failed to keep a clean sheet in pre-season, with Alonso's side conceding against Rot-Weiss Essen (2-1) and Lens (2-2) before their defeat by the Premier League side.
While results in such games are typically not a reflection of a team's overall level, it was the first time Alonso's Bayer let in four goals or more since losing at Eintracht Frankfurt in mid-October 2022.
With a Super Cup meeting with Stuttgart imminent, the German champions hope to recover from the loss in front of their supporters in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Betis suffered their fair share of pre-season losses to Premier League teams, even if a 1-0 defeat by Arne Slot's Liverpool and a 3-2 reverse against Manchester United were not on the scale of Leverkusen's thrashing at the hands of Arsenal.
Manuel Pellegrini's men have responded to both defeats by beating Saudi side Al Ittihad (4-1) and playing out a rare goalless match against Cadiz on Wednesday, keeping their only pre-season shutout.
With Saturday's friendly just five days before Los Mejores play Girona on August 15, Pellegrini hopes to see the side that netted five against Austria Salzburg (5-1) or the one that found the net four times against the Saudi Pro League outfit.
The Spanish side have more minutes in their legs than the German champions, and they hope their superior match sharpness is evident in Saturday's visit to the home of the defending Bundesliga champions.
Team News
Having returned off the bench against Lens — a match he scored — Florian Wirtz started for the first time in pre-season against Arsenal, and last season's star could play from the off again after Euro 2024 exertions with Germany, looking to build his fitness ahead of competitive action.
With Alonso keen to spread the minutes, Granit Xhaka could get a breather after consecutive starts, while Victor Boniface and Jonas Hoffmann could return to the team.
After being left out of Betis' XI against Cadiz, Adrian and Rui Silva are vying for starts between the sticks.
Nabil Fekir and William Carvalho, both left out of the lineup last time out, should play from the off at BayArena, while Isco is also pushing for inclusion from the start on Saturday.
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Koussounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Tella, Garcia, Andrich, Terrier; Wirtz, Hofmann; Boniface
Real Betis possible starting lineup:
Silva; Sabaly, Llorente, Mendy, Perraud; Carvalho, Altimira; Fornals, Fekir, Perez; Avila
We say: Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 Real Betis
After an anomalous goalless match against Cadiz on Wednesday, Betis' visit to BayArena should produce goals for both sides, and we are backing the hosts to return to winning ways and bounce back from their decisive defeat by Arsenal in midweek.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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