Bayer Leverkusen had a challenging week, barely scraping through to the second round of the DFB Cup with a narrow 1-0 win against lower-league Carl-Zeiss Jena. However, this underwhelming performance isn’t necessarily reflective of their overall form, as coach Xabi Alonso rotated the squad heavily, resting key players. Instead, it’s more relevant to focus on their Bundesliga performances so far, where they’ve shown strong offensive capabilities, particularly through Florian Wirtz, who has already made a significant impact. Leverkusen’s home form is a major strength, having remained unbeaten in their last 29 competitive matches at the BayArena, including 17 Bundesliga games. This impressive home record makes them the favorites against RB Leipzig, especially considering Leipzig’s own defensive struggles. Leverkusen’s attack is in fine form, but their defense has shown some vulnerabilities, suggesting that Saturday’s match could be high-scoring with goals on both sides.RB Leipzig, on the other hand, has started the season with positive results, including a 4-1 win in the DFB Cup and a narrow 1-0 victory over Bochum in their Bundesliga opener. However, their performances have not been entirely convincing, particularly in terms of finishing, with their lone goal against Bochum coming from substitute Antonio Nusa. Leipzig’s defense, especially in away games, has been a concern. They have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 14 Bundesliga away matches and 20 consecutive away games across all competitions. This weekend, Leipzig will also be without their defensive leader, Willi Orban, who is suspended after a red card. His absence has historically been costly for Leipzig, as seen in previous matches where they conceded heavily without him. A switch to a three-man defense might be on the cards, but without Orban’s leadership, their defense is likely to remain vulnerable. Also Dani Olmo's departure to Barcelona weakened their midlefield, so I expect Bayer Leverkusen to exploit that and win.

勒沃库森度过了充满挑战的一周，以1-0险胜低级别联赛卡尔-蔡司耶拿，勉强进入德国足协杯第二轮。然而，这种平淡的表现并不一定反映了他们的整体状态，因为教练哈维·阿隆索对阵容进行了大量轮换，让关键球员休息。相反，更重要的是关注他们到目前为止在德甲的表现，他们已经展示了强大的进攻能力，尤其是通过弗洛里安·维尔茨，他已经产生了重大影响。勒沃库森的主场状态是他们的主要优势，他们在最近的29场比赛中保持不败，其中包括17场德甲比赛。这个令人印象深刻的主场战绩使他们对RB莱比锡的最爱，特别是考虑到莱比锡自己的防守挣扎。勒沃库森的进攻状态很好，但他们的防守显示出一些弱点，这表明周六的比赛可能是双方都有进球的比赛。另一方面，莱比锡在赛季初取得了积极的成绩，包括在德国足总杯上以4比1取胜，在德甲揭幕战中以1比0险胜波鸿。然而，他们的表现并不完全令人信服，尤其是在进球方面，他们对波鸿的唯一进球来自替补球员安东尼奥·努萨。莱比锡的防守，尤其是在客场比赛中，一直是一个令人担忧的问题。他们在最近的14场德甲客场比赛和所有赛事的连续20场客场比赛中都未能保持零封。本周末，莱比锡也将失去他们的防守领袖威利·欧尔班，他在红牌后被禁赛。他的缺席对莱比锡来说是代价高昂的，在之前的比赛中，他们在没有他的情况下丢了很多球。转变为三人防守可能是可能的，但没有欧尔班的领导，他们的防守可能仍然脆弱。奥尔莫的离开也削弱了他们的中场，所以我希望勒沃库森能利用这一点赢得比赛。