Bayer Leverkusen v Union Berlin — prediction, stats and goal analysis

Bundesliga · Saturday, 5 September 2026 · 14:30. Our rating makes this 61% to go over 2.5 goals, so our lean is over. The Bundesliga average is 64%.

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Our ratings for this match

MarketYesNoOur call
Over 2.5 goals61%39%Over
Over 3.5 goals42%58%no pick
Both teams to score58%42%Yes

The result model puts Bayer Leverkusen at 71%, the draw at 17% and Union Berlin at 12%, from expected goals of 2.49 and 0.93.

Bookmaker prices and where we differ

MarketPriceImpliedOur ratingEdge
Over 2.5 goals1.4466%61%-5%
Under 2.5 goals2.7534%39%+5%
Both teams to score1.6258%58%+0%

Implied percentages have the bookmaker's margin removed, so they add to 100 and can be compared with our rating directly. Edge is simply the gap between the two. A positive edge means our model thinks the outcome is likelier than the price suggests — it is not a tip, and a high probability with a negative edge is a poor bet however safe it looks. Prices are a pre-match snapshot from a single bookmaker and move constantly.

Match odds: Bayer Leverkusen 1.42, draw 4.75, Union Berlin 6.50.

How we got this number

The league sets the starting point. Bundesliga has produced over 2.5 goals in 64% of its matches, and that is where a team with no record of its own would sit.

Each side's own record. Bayer Leverkusen have 1 in 1 this season, Union Berlin 1 in 1. Those records are pulled toward the league rate with the weight of about 32 matches — enough that two or three unusual games cannot swing a rating — giving 65% and 65%.

Last season still counts, briefly. With 1 and 1 games played this season, last season's rates are still blended in and fade out entirely by game 14 — the point at which our testing showed they stop adding accuracy. That moves the two figures to 59% and 62%.

The mix. Weighted 40% home side, 40% away side and 20% league — the split that beat every alternative across 30,582 matches of testing — that gives 61%.

Head to head. These sides have met 6 times in three years, producing over 2.5 goals in 33%. That nudges the number 10% of the way toward the head-to-head pattern — deliberately small, because fixtures change more than reputations do — landing on 58%.

Goal expectation. Separately a Poisson model built from attack and defence strength — using real expected-goals data where the league has it — puts this match at 66%, from expected goals of 2.49 for Bayer Leverkusen and 0.93 for Union Berlin. Folding in 30% of that view gives 61%.

This breakdown is generated from the same inputs the rating uses, so it cannot describe a calculation we did not perform. The full model is set out in the methodology.

Season form

TeamGamesO2.5O3.5BTTS
Bayer Leverkusen1100%100%100%
Union Berlin1100%100%100%

Head to head

21 Feb 26Union Berlin 1–0 Bayer LeverkusenU2.5
4 Oct 25Bayer Leverkusen 2–0 Union BerlinU2.5
12 Apr 25Bayer Leverkusen 0–0 Union BerlinU2.5
30 Nov 24Union Berlin 1–2 Bayer LeverkusenO2.5
6 Apr 24Union Berlin 0–1 Bayer LeverkusenU2.5
12 Nov 23Bayer Leverkusen 4–0 Union BerlinO2.5

More: Bayer Leverkusen season stats · Union Berlin season stats · Bundesliga table and form. Ratings are calibrated probabilities, not tips — a 60% call is expected to miss two times in five.