German Bundesliga: Gameweek 12 Preview

The German Bundesliga continues to provide us with entertaining and attacking football played on the front foot. 

Image copyright – Steve Haag Sports

On the betting side of things, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have failed to win in recent matches which has reduced the gap at the top of the standings and let us out of our weekend multiples. Bayer Leverkusen have capitalised on the opportunity by taking advantage of the points dropped by their rivals and are currently the most consistent team in the division.

Friday 18 December

Union Berlin 32/10

Draw 28/10

Borussia Dortmund 8/10 
Union Berlin have been a tough side to beat
this campaign, living up to their nickname of “the Iron Ones”. The hosts are
unbeaten in five matches on home soil with two wins and three draws, most
notably holding champions Bayern Munich to a 1-1 stalemate last Saturday. 

Borussia
Dortmund parted ways with manager Lucien Favre after a humiliating 5-1 loss to
newly-promoted Stuttgart at Signal Iduna Park, their third consecutive loss at
home. The Yellow and Blacks are struggling without their main source of goals,
Erling Haaland, with the striker expected to return to action in January. Goals
are almost guaranteed when these opponents lock horns, take Over 2.5 Goals at
13/20.

Saturday 19 December

RB Leipzig 7/20

Cologne 7/1

RB Leipzig are enjoying a nine-game winning
streak at the Red Bull Arena and will aim to make it 10 on the bounce against a
team that have never claimed a single point at this stadium. Julian Nagelsmann’s
troops will aim to finish the year strongly after recent victories over Paris
Saint-Germain and Manchester United in Germany gained RB Leipzig entry into the
UEFA Champions League Round of 16. 

Cologne got the better of a struggling
Borussia Dortmund three weeks ago and will look to replicate that performance
by taking their chances when presented with them. The Goats will struggle
against this quality RB Leipzig outfit, my money is on the hosts to claim
maximum points.

Mainz 29/20

Werder Bremen 37/20

Mainz are languishing in the relegation
zone but will take delight in hosting Werder Bremen, whom the Carnival Club
defeated twice last season in convincing fashion (3-1 & 5-0). French
striker Jean-Philippe Mateta will need to be at his best and put his chances in
the back of the net after failing to impress against fellow relegation
contenders Arminia Bielefeld and Cologne in recent outings. 

Werder Bremen are
in woeful form altogether but especially on their travels, where the Green and
Whites are winless in five matches since their opening day victory at Schalke. Back
Mainz to bag three points at the Opel Arena at 29/20 odds.

Borussia Monchengladbach 8/10

Hoffenheim 29/10

Borussia Monchengladbach can now switch
their focus to climbing their way back up the Bundesliga log after securing
qualification into the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League under the
tutelage of Marco Rose. The Foals have suffered to claim maximum points after
midweek UEFA Champions League fixtures, but are expected to close the margin in
the upcoming games with Champions League on the back burner until early next
year. Hoffenheim will also concentrate their energy solely on the league after
topping their group in the UEFA Europa League.

 The visitors need to address
their poor form on the road (winless in five), as the football they display doesn’t
match their lowly league position. Both Teams to Score is a banker at 4/10,
however, if you searching for value, I suggest taking First Half – Both Teams
to Score at 21/10.

Augsburg 24/10

Eintracht Frankfurt 21/20

Augsburg will be looking to avenge their
5-0 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at Deutsche Bank Park earlier this year. Heiko
Herrlich’s side have been inconsistent, beating Borussia Dortmund at the WWK
Arena, but failed to claim maximum points against the likes of Hertha Berlin,
Freiburg and Schalke in recent home games. 

Eintracht Frankfurt have been poor
on their travels and are without a win from their past five trips. The Eagles
can trust strikers Bas Dost and Andre Silva to find the net but big improvement
is needed to shore up the leaky defence and results are surely to follow. Take
these sides to cancel out each other and share the spoils.

Schalke 11/10

Arminia Bielefeld 24/10

At the time of writing, Schalke have won
just once from 28 Bundesliga clashes in 2020 which is a frightening statistic that
could mean the club will face the entire season battling against relegation. If
reinforcements aren’t signed in the January transfer window, the Royal Blues
might be pressured to install a third different manager for this campaign. 

Arminia
Bielefeld are struggling to compete and earn results in the top-tier. The Blues
are tied with the hosts as the lowest-scoring teams in the Bundesliga. For
that reason, I’m doubtful to choose a winner and I would rather back Under 2.5
Goals at 9/10 odds.

Bayer Leverkusen 32/10

Bayern Munich 7/10

The Bay Arena serves up this weekend’s main
course on the Bundesliga menu as Bayer Leverkusen who are aiming for the 10th
consecutive victory on home soil, welcome champions Bayern Munich who have
dropped points to the likes of Werder Bremen, RB Leipzig and Union Berlin in
the past four weeks. The Werkself have settled well following a slow start to
the campaign and seem to have replaced the goals and assists from old-boy Kai
Havertz with Leon Bailey and Patrick Schick in excellent form. 

Bayern Munich
had the shortest possible break across Europe, after winning the UEFA Champions
League against Paris Saint-Germain, the Bavarians kicked off the current season
just 26 days later. Fatigue is showing and I feel Bayer Leverkusen are the
perfect opponent to capitalise from it. Leverkusen have been Bayern’s hoodoo
side in the past and considering current form I’m putting my money on a home
win at 32/10.

Sunday 20 December

Freiburg 17/10

Hertha Berlin 15/10

Freiburg have only managed to beat
newly-promoted Arminia Bielefeld from their six games at the Schwarzwald Stadion.
The Breisgau Brazilians are banking on veteran striker Nils Petersen to get
them out of their current rut. Petersen was on target the last two times Hertha
Berlin came to town with Freiburg edging each encounter by a 2-1 score line and
will prove instrumental if the hosts are to end their drought on home soil. 

Hertha Berlin have already travelled to some of the most difficult stadiums
this season, losing to Bayern Munich (4-3) and RB Leipzig (2-1), but held their
own against Bayer Leverkusen (0-0) and Borussia Monchengladbach (1-1) in recent
weeks. Matteo Guendouzi’s dynamism in the heart of the Old Lady’s midfield has
been a huge boost and a clear improvement in the team has been displayed. The
away win is tipped at 15/10 odds.

Wolfsburg 23/20

Draw 26/10 Stuttgart 21/10

Wolfsburg are the surprise package of the
season that not many could have predicted. Prior to their midweek trip to
Bayern Munich, the Wolves were enjoying a 11-game unbeaten streak and will look
to keep up that impressive standard of performances to realistically challenge
for UEFA Europa League qualification (fifth & sixth position) when the dust
settles at the end of this campaign. 

Stuttgart will still have the bounce off
the 5-1 win in Dortmund last weekend, which coincidently allowed Wolfsburg to
leapfrog Dortmund on the log standings. Stuttgart’s games have been very
entertaining to the neutral with goals a plenty in most of their clashes. Additional
Totals: Over 3.5 Goals is the play at 27/20.

TREBLE @ 25/1

Mainz Win 29/20

Bayer Leverkusen Win 32/10

Hertha Berlin Win 15/10

Written by Bryan Naicker