The Bundesliga makes its return this weekend and it's difficult to see anything other than another Bayern procession.
Kicking off proceedings we have champions Bayern Munich facing off against last season’s hopefuls Borussia Monchengladbach, but things just continue to heat up with Wolfsburg welcoming Bundesliga newcomers Gruether Furth.
Football is back and anticipation is rife amongst punters. Let’s get right into it.
Friday 13 August
Monchengladbach 4/1
Draw 4/1
Bayern Munich 5/10
The Bundesliga is back and we’re kicking things off with defending champions and poster boys Bayern Munich heading to Stadion im Borussia-Park to take on Borussia Monchengladbach.
The last meeting between the two saw league champions triumph over their opponents 6-0 at the Allianz where Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick, whereas Munich have not beaten the home team on their turf in two previous attempts.
The Foals faced Bayern in a pre-season club friendly defeating them 0-2 at the Allianz and have had a good pre-season in terms of results, coupled with a DFB Pokal victory in their first round of fixtures.
Bayern missed out on their opening cup fixture with the opposition having Covid-19 scares and have missed out on a proper competitive game before the start of the league.
A Double Chance Borussia M’Gladbach or draw to upset the start of the season at 27/20.
Saturday 14 August
Wolfsburg 5/10
Draw 7/2
Bochum 44/10
Wolfsburg were on a five-game losing streak before winning 3-1 in their first round of the DFB Pokal over the last weekend which was a shaky win to say the least. Les Verts do not inspire any confidence from their pre-season campaign, but their Bundesliga experience will count for everything in their opening fixture.
After having the league’s second-best defence last campaign behind RB Leipzig’s 32 conceded goals, Les Verts have bolstered their defensive options with the acquisition of Koln centre-back Sebastiaan Bornauw.
Bochum’s promotion has taken 11 years, and the key players who have brought them back are centre-forward Simon Zoller who used to play Bundesliga football for Koln, attacking midfielder Robert Zulj, Brazilian left-back Danilo Soares, and finally, their coach Thomas Reis who has steered them to Bundesliga 2 glory last campaign.
A straight bet Wolfsburg at 5/10 will see the victory through for the Bundesliga staples over the newcomers.
Union Berlin 19/10
Draw 23/10
Bayer Leverkusen 14/10
The must-watch match of the weekend has to be Union Berlin versus Bayer Leverkusen. The daunting Stadion An der Alten Forsterei plays host to a grudge match between the clubs after a two-point difference for European football last season.
There has been nothing but progression over the past two seasons for the Berlin outfit, and with their third consecutive Bundesliga season kicking off, the fans are expecting bigger and better things this time around. The Iron Ones recorded their first ever win over Bayer Leverkusen without their faithful fans attending, and this time around they will be in full voice. With four wins and a draw out of their five pre-season club friendlies, there are promising signs.
The away team have lost key players this summer with Leon Bailey moving to Aston Villa, Demarai Gray to Everton.
The draw no bet at even money on the home team is value for this gameweek.
Stuttgart 8/10
Draw 29/10
Greuther Furth 29/10
It has been eight years since the away team Greuther Furth has been in the topflight German division and the established Stuttgart welcomes them to the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The away team has had a challenging pre-season, losing three and drawing one of their four club friendlies, alongside their DFB Pokal loss to Babelsburg on penalties.
Manager Stefan Leitl knows he had to strengthen their squad, and with five of nine signings being midfielders the Cloverleaves’ engine room has been remodelled, but it is not firing on all cylinders just yet.
The home team, Stuttgart, finished midtable last campaign, and will be looking to improve on their placing with youth being the key focus again.
You can easily get behind Stuttgart at 8/10.
Augsburg 22/10
Draw 26/10
Hoffenheim 11/10
Augsburg goes head-to-head with Hoffenheim at the WWK Arena on Saturday.
The away team have been promising in pre-season and have also taken a win in the DFB Pokal with an extra-time goal from Croatian national Andrej Kramaric.
Augsburg are also in good form, winning with back-to-back wins, including a competitive cup fixture 4-2 thriller over a fourth division Greifswalder FC.
Hoffenheim’s goalscoring record at the WWK Arena is better than Augsburg’s with 24 goals to Augsburg’s 23 in this fixture.
Backing Both Teams To Score (Yes) at 17/20 is a banker for the weekend.
Arminia Bielefeld 18/10
Draw 9/4
Freiburg 31/20
Scoring goals for Arminia Bielefeld is not in question after their 6-3 win in the DFB Pokal. The only concern will be the defensive work on display from the home team, conceding three goals against a third division team.
Freiburg have produced good results through their pre-season campaign and a confident 1-0 win over Wurzburger Kickers puts their hopes to kick off the first game of the Bundesliga with three points.
Back Freiburg to steal an away win for this gameweek’s value bet.
Borussia Dortmund 9/20
Draw 42/10
Eintracht Frankfurt 48/10
My eyes are all on Erling Haaland this season, and after a hat-trick to give them their first competitive win of the season in defence of the DFB Pokal, a consistent anytime goal scorer throughout the season could be viable. With 28 goals in 27 games in the Bundesliga, missing the target eight times in each of his 28 starts, the difference in winning versus losses in that market comes out in the positive.
In terms of this fixture, Borussia Dortmund is a certainty, creating 20 shots at goal with 10 on target in the cup match on the weekend, you know the firepower and creative ability is still ever-present, despite losing Jadon Sancho, Leonardo Balerdi and Lukasz Piszschek.
Back BVB and Over 2.5 Goals at 15/20. Haaland anytime goal scorer is 21/10 for better value.
Sunday 15 August
Mainz 42/10
Draw 33/10
RB Leipzig 11/20
RB Leipzig will be without the glue that holds their club together Julian Nagelsmann. The only question that begs is will new manager Jesse Marsch do the trick?
The quality in the Leipzig camp remains despite their ever-present selling of their cream of the crop. The selling of last season’s centre-back pairing of Dayot Upamecano and Ibrahim Konate have both beefed up the club’s pockets for the upcoming season. The replacements are numerous with an obvious new backline of defenders being Croatian centre-back Josko Gvardiol, centre-back Mohamed Simakan from Ligue 1 outfit Strasbourg and right-back Benjamin Hendricks from Monaco.
On the attacking front, there has also been money reinvested from Leipzig, with marquee centre forward Andre Silva from Eintracht Frankfurt and left midfielder Angelio from Manchester City.
The home team, on the other hand, have not had much movement in terms of personnel, but the pre-season fixtures have been the highlight with three wins, one draw and a single one-goal loss to Liverpool.
An RB Leipzig win to kick of the season is definitive.
Cologne 31/20
Draw 23/10
Hertha Berlin 7/4
Cologne versus Hertha Berlin fixture is full of passion with both clubs having a really rowdy fanbase, and with those fans now being back in the stadium, the fixture is bound to be an interesting watch.
Both teams have not lost a fixture in their pre-season club friendlies as well as their DFB Pokal opening round fixture. Last season both legs ended in stale 0-0 draws, and a 5-0 away win to Cologne preceded by a 4-0 away win to Hertha Berlin in the season before that leaves the mind to wonder what will be next.
A 23/10 draw between these two is where my money is going, and for a little more value you could add both teams to score to that draw at 33/10.
TREBLE @ 4/1
Wolfsburg Win 5/10
Union Berlin – Draw No Bet 1/1
Stuttgart Win 8/10
