The early signs are very good for Bayer Leverkusen, who followed up on an impressive opening day 3-2 win at home to RB Leipzig by hitting another three goals past Borussia Mönchengladbach on their own turf (3-0). While new signing Victor Boniface stole the headlines for a brace in that win, Florian Wirtz deserves plenty of plaudits too, as he created a remarkable ten chances from open play – according to Opta the last player to exceed this in Europe’s top-five leagues was David Silva (11) in 2015.
His creativity has helped Xabi Alonso’s men score 14 goals in their opening three competitive matches of this campaign and they could now win their opening three Bundesliga matches for the first time in ten years. Doing that would arguably be an early sign that they’re ready to challenge Bayern Munich for Germany’s top prize this season.
It’s been a polar opposite start to the season for league newboys Darmstadt, who after a six-year absence from the top flight, have shown little evidence to suggest that they’ll have what it takes this season to avoid the drop. They’ve suffered three defeats from as many competitive matches so far, conceding eight goals in total. And despite boasting the best defence in 2.Bundesliga last season, their 4-1 home defeat to Union Berlin last time out was a stark reminder of how big the step up in quality can be between the two top leagues in Germany.
Form on the road looks like it could be one of the biggest downfalls for Torsten Lieberknecht’s side. If you include the tail end of last season, it’s five defeats from their last six competitive away games (W1), while failing to score in four of those matches suggests they’re unlikely to trouble Leverkusen’s backline much here.
Players to watch: The aforementioned Boniface had 11 shots against Gladbach – a new record for a Leverkusen player in the Bundesliga since such data started to be collected in 2004/05. Darmstadt’s Marvin Mehlem has scored his side’s only Bundesliga goal since their return, although more striking is the fact he’s picked up a yellow card in each of his last six league outings.
Hot stat: Leverkusen are undefeated in their last four meetings with newly promoted sides (W3, D1), scoring 23 goals and conceding just five.
