Eintracht Norderstedt vs Bayer Leverkusen 13/09/20

13 September 2020

The first round of the DFB Pokal pits lower-league outfit Eintracht Norderstedt against Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen. The showdown at the BayArena will be the first-ever between these two sides.

Currently competing in the Regionalliga Nord (fourth tier of football in Germany), Thomas Seeliger’s men have endured a torrid start to the new season, losing 3-1 to SC Weiche-08 on the opening matchday. Consequentially, Norderstedt are now winless in all three of their competitive matches this calendar year (D1, L2), two of which have seen over 3.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. Going back to September 2019, the hosts have picked up just three wins from nine competitive home outings (W3, D2, L4). The ‘clean-sheet’ theme has highlighted that period, as six of those nine fixtures saw at least one side fail to get on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, the visitors go into this encounter on the back of a 2-1 defeat to Inter Milan in the Europa League quarter-finals. Although that clash took place on neutral ground, it means that ‘Die Werkself’ are now winless in three competitive matches away from home (D1, L2). Each of those fixtures saw Leverkusen concede the opening goal and score one or less at full-time. Yet, Peter Bosz’s men are odds-on favorites to advance to the next round and can count on the benefit of playing at home. Curiously, though, ten of their 13 competitive away games this calendar year have seen both teams score, with eight featuring over 2.5 goals too.