Bayer won their last league game against Wolfsburg 2-1 to return to winning ways as they look to get back into the top four ahead of next season. They are on the up as a club as evident by the fact that they have already collected the same number of points (41) this season as the did in the whole of last season. Furthermore, the trio of Dominik  Kohr, Panos Retsos, and Leon Bailey should be back in contention for this game. First two were suspended for the last game while the latter was rested. Gladbach drew their last game 2-2 against Werder Bremen, but they would take positives from the fact that they are now unbeaten in their last two games for the first time in 4 months. They are just 4 points away from a European place, but their treatment room is still busy with key players like Fabian Johnson and Ibrahima Traore still out injured. Leverkusen have failed to find the back of the net in 3 of their last 5 league matches and they have just 2 wins from their last 7 home league games, losing on 3 occasions.

Mainz 05 are getting better and they have begun getting some good results as they look to survive relegation. After winning 0-2 at Berlin, they have drawn their last two games against Wolfsburg and Hamburg to take themselves 7 points clear of the automatic relegation spot – but they are still in a relegation playoff spot. Prior to their last 3 games, they lost 3 consecutive matches and they would be careful not to fall to a defeat here again. Schalke got their 4th win of the year against a very stubborn Hertha Berlin side last weekend to boost their chances of making it to next season’s Champions League. Add that to equally impressive wins against Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen earlier in the year and you would feel they have what it takes to take all three points here. Guido Burgstaller – their top scorer, could miss this game, but they have enough options to fill that void. They have just one win in their last 3 visits here, losing the rest.

This clash is between two of Diego Maradona’s first teams and they are both missing some key players ahead of this clash, but who would cope better? These two teams have a strong rivalry and the home crowd would still remember Carlos Tevez’s horrific tackle on Ezequiel Ham in 2015, and although the former Manchester City star would not play in this game, the home fans would be cheering their team to achieve an unlikely win here. Their bid to cause an upset in this game has not been helped by the fact that Leonardo Pisculichi and Lucas Barrios out injured and El Bicho is in one of the poorest form of his career. They have won none of their last 3 games, scoring in only of those matches. Boca Juniors are in top form as they march towards another league win this season. They have won 14 of their 17 top-flight games this season to enhance their reputation as the best team in the Argentine top flight. They are 9 points clear at the top of the league as they have netted the average of 2 goals per game this season while conceding just 0.47.

Many expected Real Madrid to fall to a defeat at the hands of PSG in the first leg of this game, but the French side failed to capitalise on taking the lead and they lost the game 3-1. They now face a major hurdle in trying to eliminate Madrid in this round. Their chances of winning this game has dropped significantly after Neymar sustained an injury that would keep him out for at least two months and Kylian Mbappe is a doubt to start this match. However, PSG have so much depth in attack and they rested Edison Cavani at the weekend. Di Maria is also on form and netted in their last game, he could be the difference between winning and losing for them here. They have won 9 of their last 10 games and have scored 5 goals in their last two games. Real Madrid are looking like they could retain this Champions League crown for the 3rd consecutive season as their form in all competitions has improved. They have won 6 of their last 7 games, netting 23 goals in that period of time. Both teams have scored the average of 4.7 goals in each of their 11 games, we could be in for another high scoring game here.

Liverpool have been characteristically inconsistent this season, but they have really hit top form in the last couple of matches. Since their shock FA Cup loss to West Brom, they have gone five games without tasting defeat, winning four. Their 4-1 win over West Ham the last time out made it 16 goals scored in their last 5 games including 5 away to FC Porto in the Champions League. This run of form has taken them to within 2 points of 2nd placed Manchester United and they face each other after this match. They have scored the second highest number of goals in the league (65), however, their defence has proven to be too generous at times and they have conceded more goals than any of the top five teams. Newcastle have been showing some attacking prowess in recent weeks and they netted 2 times at Bournemouth even though the game ended in a draw. They are unbeaten in their last 4 games and would be hoping to keep that record against the Reds here. They are currently 15th on the league table, 2 points off the relegation zone, but they have impressively scored in each of their last 7 league games. These teams have both won 2, drawn 3 and lost 2 of their last 7 seven matchups.