Borussia Dortmund’s underwhelming performance in the 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Cologne allowed Bayern Munich to open up a four-point gap over their bitter rivals, while Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim suffered from the dreaded UEFA Europa League hangover as they were both held to draws against Hertha Berlin and Mainz respectively.
Image Copyright – Steve Haag Sports.
This weekend’s action sees second-placed RB
Leipzig travel to the Allianz Arena to lock horns with champions, Bayern
Munich, who will be looking to gain a stronghold on the Bundesliga proceedings
by further distancing themselves from their closest challengers.
Standings provided by SofaScore LiveScore
Friday 4 December
Hertha Berlin 27/20
Draw 49/20
Union Berlin 19/10
Hertha Berlin claimed a hard-fought point
on the road at Leverkusen’s Bay Arena and return home to the Olympiastadion to
play host in the Berlin derby. Bruno Labbadia’s team are winless at home after
suffering three defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt (1-3), Stuttgart (0-2) and
Borussia Dortmund (2-5), while only earning a single point after sharing the
spoils with Wolfsburg (1-1).
These are worrying signs, however, there’s no
better time to turn their fortunes around than against their local rivals.
Union Berlin come into the derby full of confidence after their 3-3 draw
against Eintracht Frankfurt saw the “Iron Ones” extend their unbeaten streak to
eight games with four victories and four draws. The visitors are sixth in the
standings and maximum points in this tie could see them temporarily leapfrog
the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund into third position. Union
Berlin are tipped on the Win/Draw Double Chance at 11/20.
Saturday 5 December
Eintracht Frankfurt 32/10
Draw 31/10
Borussia Dortmund 7/10
Eintracht Frankfurt coach Adi Hutter will
be rueing his team’s missed opportunity to break their duck of consecutive
draws that has the Eagles winless in six Bundesliga games with fives draws. A
goalkeeping error and a poorly timed tackle saw Hutter’s men fighting an uphill
battle from the onset at Union Berlin last time out. Goalkeeper Kevin Trapp
will need to be at his best to stop Erling Haaland and company who will be out
for revenge following their poor display last Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund come
off their second defeat at Signal Iduna Park this season by shockingly losing
2-1 to Cologne. Halaand will be looking to replicate his previous performance
on the road in which the Norwegian striker scored four times at Hertha Berlin. My
money is on Borussia Dortmund.
Arminia Bielefeld 17/10
Draw 24/10
Mainz 15/10
Arminia Bielefeld host Mainz in a massive
six-pointer at the Schuco Arena between two of the bottom three Bundesliga
clubs. The Blues are in serious trouble with six defeats on the bounce and are
yet to score a goal in the first half of a match this season.
Mainz could count
themselves unlucky as their in-form striker Jean-Philippe Mateta’s
chance to win the match struck both uprights with the score locked at 1-1
against Hoffenheim last Sunday. The Carnival Club will be happy Swedish forward
Robin Quaison is back in the goals. Mateta and Quaison’s goals will be the
invaluable to the visitors finding mid-table security this season. Mainz
offers great value for the win at 15/10, but if you’re looking for more, I
suggest selecting Away to Win Both Halves (Yes) at 11/2 odds.
Freiburg 29/10
Draw 29/10
Borussia Monchengladbach 8/10
Freiburg come into this clash winless in
eight matches, suffering four defeats, while holding on for four draws that has
the Breisgau Brazilians precariously hovering above the relegation zone on
seven points after nine games. Christian Streich’s men were unlucky in Augsburg
last week, as a shot deflected off their own defenders to beat goalkeeper
Florian Muller, robbing Freiburg of the win with ten minutes left on the clock.
Borussia Monchengladbach put Schalke to the sword with an excellent display of
textbook counter-attacking football in a comfortable 4-1 win at Borussia Park.
The Foals will be aiming for maximum points by scoring three goals or more in
their fourth straight game away on their travels in the Bundesliga. Take
Borussia Monchengladbach to continue their impressive streak.
Cologne 24/10
Draw 49/20
Wolfsburg 11/10
Cologne come off their first victory of the
season which was also their first over Borussia Dortmund in 29 years. The Billy
Goats will face stiff competition when Wolfsburg, who are unbeaten come to
town. Beating Borussia Dortmund will certainly have lifted Cologne’s spirits,
however, Markus Gisdol’s team will have to do it all again, they’ve scored in
each of their matches at the Rhein Energie Stadion, but will have to be more
astute in defence to stand a better chance of winning matches.
Wolfsburg have a
striker that is in red hot form, Wout Weghorst’s six goals in six league games
has inspired the Wolves to four wins from their last five games. Over 2.5
Goals is a given when these sides meet at 15/20 odds, but with Weghorst enjoying
a purple patch my money is on Wolfsburg.
Bayern Munich 11/20
Draw 38/10
RB Leipzig 4/1
Bayern Munich will return from Spain after
clashing with Atletico Madrid in UEFA Champions League action, while RB Leipzig
make the trip to Turkey to lock horns with Istanbul Basaksehir which won’t give
any advantage to either team to prepare for this encounter. The reigning
Bundesliga champions have found the net 18 times from just four league games at
the Allianz Arena with Robert Lewandowski scoring eight of those goals.
RB
Leipzig don’t have the same level of squad depth compared to Bayern Munich and
coach Julian Nagelsmann will surely setup for this game with a measured
approach and one eye on the crucial UEFA Champions League visit of Manchester
United next Tuesday. The Red Bulls recent form on their travels don’t give any
confidence that an upset is on the cards, the best the visitors can hope for is
putting numbers behind the ball and hope to knick a draw in the latter stages
of the contest. Take Bayern Munich at 11/20 confidently.
Sunday 6 December
Werder Bremen 31/20
Draw 51/20
Stuttgart 16/10
Werder Bremen found themselves on the wrong
end of a 5-3 defeat to in-form Wolfsburg last Friday, the loss followed five
consecutive draws that leaves the Green and Whites winless in six matches. Florian
Kohfeldt’s charges finished 16th last season and regained entry to the
Bundesliga via the play-offs and are heading in the same direction if results
don’t improve immediately.
Stuttgart were unbeaten for seven games (including
five draws) until they hosted Bayern Munich who snapped their streak with a 3-1
win at the Mercedes Benz Arena. The Reds have scored in every game this season
and are unbeaten on their travels thanks to three draws. Back Stuttgart on
the Win/Draw Double Chance at 5/10.
Schalke 9/2
Draw 32/10
Bayer Leverkusen 11/20
Coach Manuel Baum gained an unwanted record
of becoming the first manager that has failed to win in his first six games in
charge at Schalke after their 4-1 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach. The Royal
Blues are rooted to the foot of the table and are the only German club yet to
taste victory. Bayer Leverkusen remained unbeaten in the Bundesliga following a
goalless draw against Hertha Berlin.
The draw ended a five-game winning streak
and the Werkself will now be targeting maximum points against the hosts who should
prove to be easy pickings for Peter Bosz’s men. The past four meetings
between these sides have seen both teams score, but this time you should be
taking Bayer Leverkusen for a comfortable win.
Monday 7 December
Hoffenheim 8/10
Draw 3/1
Augsburg 29/10
Hoffenheim host Augsburg on Monday night
because of their UEFA Europa League matches on Thursday nights. Sebastian Hoeneb’s
team have failed to win any of their Bundesliga matches after playing in the
Europa League on Thursdays, so I would not take a chance on a home win in this
encounter. Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric will be aiming to find the net
against Augsburg after drawing blanks in his last two games against the Fuggerstadter.
Augsburg have won just once in six matches, only beating Mainz (3-1) and come
off back-to-back 1-1 draws against Borussia Monchengladbach and Freiburg. Go
the safe route by taking Over 2.5 Goals to come in for the fifth straight
meeting between these sides at odds of 9/20 to fatten up your weekend
multiples.
TREBLE @ 7/1
Mainz Win 15/10
Wolfsburg Win 11/10
Bayern Munich 11/20
Written by Bryan Naicker for Hollywoodbets.
