Man City v Bayer Leverkusen – Preview, Predictions and Best Bets

This will be Pep Guardiola’s 100^th match as a coach in this competition. Leverkusen have lost eight of their last 10 UCL away matches against English clubs.

Match: Man City v Bayer Leverkusen
When: Tuesday, 25 Nov 2025

Man City Form

City have won seven of their last nine matches in all competitions. Before their defeat on Saturday, they had been beaten just once in 14 fixtures. After three straight wins, they lost 1-0 at Aston Villa despite putting up 18 shots. A 3-1 win followed at Swansea in the Carabao Cup.

Man City looked back to their slick best with three more wins. They beat Bournemouth 3-1 and cruised past Dortmund in a  4-1 home win in the Champions League. After a 3-0 thumping of Liverpool, they lost their last match. A 2-1 loss at Newcastle saw them allow 2.24 xG and five big chances.

Man City Team News

Mateo Kovacic and Rodri will play no part in this match in midfield. The latter is close to a return but won’t be risked here. Pep Guardiola could rotate his side heavily after three straight matches with the same XI in the league.

Savinho and Oscar Bobb could freshen up the wide areas. Tijjani Reijnders is set to start in midfield. John Stones and Nathan Ake could form part of a totally new back four.

Man City Motivation

City are in a good position in this competition, but nothing less than a win would be seen as a good result.

They will want a response and a few goals scored after losing at Newcastle.

Bayer Leverkusen Form

Leverkusen sit third in the Bundesliga, having had a poor start initially under Erik Ten Hag. The Dutch coach was sacked after just two matches in charge. New coach Kasper Hjulmand has overseen a big improvement. However, after successive league wins, they were destroyed 7-2 at home by PSG.

A 2-0 home win over Freiburg made it four straight league wins before losing 3-0 at Bayern Munich with just 0.23 xG produced. They were outshot 21-7 but ground out a 1-0 win at Benfica in their last UCL match. Following a 6-0 thrashing of FC Heidenheim, they won 3-1 at Wolfsburg on Saturday after being outshot 21-7.

Bayer Leverkusen Team News

Defender Edmond Tapsoba is suspended for this match. Midfielder Robert Andrich is also banned for this one and fellow midfielder Exequiel Palacios has a groin problem.

The right flank is weakened by Lucas Vázquez and Jonas Hofmann not being available. Jarell Quansah is set to be recalled in the back three in place of Tapsoba.

Bayer Leverkusen Motivation

Leverkusen would bite your hand off for a point in this one. Realistically, they may be okay with a good display and a narrow loss.

Many recent results have seen them allow many clear chances to their opponents. They’ve been quite fortunate in some recent wins, and they’re looking leaky at the back.

Key Stats

• Man City have won 7 of their last 9 matches
• Man City’s Haaland has scored 33 goals in his last 22 matches for club and country
• Leverkusen have lost 8 of their last 10 UCL away matches vs English clubs.
• Leverkusen have seen 38 goals in their last 8 matches (22 scored, 16 conceded)

Verdict

City should have far too much for Leverkusen and a win by a big margin looks the best bet.

Best Bet: Man City win (-2 goal handicap) at 2.375

Featured Bet: Man City win, both teams to score & Haaland to score anytime at 2.45