The winter break is finally over in the German Bundesliga and it is time to put away the winter coats and get the second part of the season rolling. Round 17 kicks off on Friday night with the SC Freiburg hosting the 2015/2016 Champion FC Bayern Munich. On Saturday afternoon, we have 6 games on schedule with our featured game being the clash at the Veltins-Arena, where the Schalke 04 will host FC Ingolstadt. The last day of Round 17 wraps up with 2 more games with the Bayer Leverkusen vs the Hertha Berlin match-up catching our focus.
Friday, January 20th – 1 Featured Match
SC Freiburg vs FC Bayern Munich
3-Way: 1: SC Freiburg +1350 Home ; X: +610 Draw ; 2: FC Bayern Munich -357 Away
Total 3.0: Over -108 ; Under +104
Analysis and Prediction:
The Round 17 of the German Bundesliga will also be the first round of 2017 and the last round of the first part of the season. Complicated, right? Either way, the Bundesliga fans are eager to get the season rolling and to see some action on the grass. There is no better way to kick off the second part of the season than to watch the FC Hollywood, I mean the FC Bayern Munich, display their skills and talents at the Schwarzwald-Stadion where they will take on the SC Freiburg.
The hosts wrapped up 2016 going unbeaten in 4 consecutive games (2W and 2D), defeating FC Ingolstadt with 2- 1 on the road on December 21. The Black Forest outfit has spent the winter break quietly, not making any significant roster changes. Charles Elie Laprevotte (1. FC Magdeburg) is the only player leaving the club, while there have not been any signings during the break. The team has played 3 official friendly games against Sparta Praha (0 – 0), FC Vaduz (3 – 1) and PSV Eindhoven (1 – 3). Facing the German powerhouse on Friday will be a true test for Christian Streich’s side, who will hope to use their home crowd support and try to start the New Year off on a positive note.
Bayern Munich, on the other side, has been very active during the winter break, sealing the deal with the TSG 1899 Hoffenheims duo Sebastian Rudy (26) and Niklas Sule (21), who will join Bayern in summer 2017. Bayern has also extended the contract with Arjen Robben, who put the pen to a paper for an additional year. Two players have left the team as Holger Badstuber decided to join FC Schalke 04 and Julian Green sealing a deal with VfB Stuttgart. The Reds are entering the New Year on a five-game winning streak in the German Bundesliga and there is no doubt that they will look to extend that streak on Friday night. The Bavarians won the Telecom Cup a couple of days ago, defeating the Fortuna Dusseldorf in the semi-final match after a penalty shootout. They also defeated FSV Mainz 2-1 in the final match, while also taking down KAS Eupen 5-0.
SC Freiburg and FC Bayern Munich have gone head-to-head on 24 occasions, with the Reds recording 20 wins and 3 draws, while suffering only 1 loss. However, that lone loss came the last time the two teams faced each other when Freiburg grabbed a 2-1 victory at home. The last time Bayern won at the Schwarzwald-Stadion was back in November, 2012, when they recorded a 2 – 0 win. Out of the 24 games, the two teams have scored more than 3 goals on 7 occasions and, considering that both teams are still rusty after the winter break, I don’t expect things to be different on Friday as well. I like the +104 offered for the under, which is my pick for this game.
Saturday, January 21st – 1 Featured Match
Schalke 04 vs FC Ingolstadt
3-Way: 1: Schalke 04 -115 Home; X: +270 Draw; 2: FC Ingolstadt +412 Away
Total 2.5: Over +114; Under -118
Analysis and Prediction:
After a four-week layoff, the Bundesliga returns to the Veltins-Arena again, when the FC Schalke host the FC Ingolstadt on Saturday afternoon. The Royal Blues have much to make up for if they want to keep their European competition dream alive, while Die Schanzer are still holding to a straw firmly at the bottom of the table.
The Blues are 1-1 in friendly games during the break (vs. Chemnitzer FC 1-2) and (vs. KV Oostende 2-1). Holger Badstuber joined the Royal Blues on a loan from Bayern Munich and if they manage to keep Sead Kolasinac, who is linked with the move to the Italian giant Juventus, the Blues should finally see some stabilization in the back line. Besides Badstuber, Guido Burgsteller joined Schalke from 1.FC Nurnberg. Phil Neumann will leave the team during the summer 2017 as he sealed a deal with FC Ingolstadt, while Sidney Sam joined SV Darmstadt 98 on a loan. The latest departure was announced yesterday as the team informed that Junior Caicara will join the Turkish team Medipol Basaksehir FK. Coach Markus Weinzierl will not be able to count on the team’s top scorer Nabil Bentaleb who is playing with his national team Algeria at the African Cup of Nations.
FC Ingolstadt took down RB Leipzig (1 – 0) at home and Bayer Leverkusen (2 – 1) on the road before slipping to SC Freiburg at home (1 – 2) to wrap up 2016. It was a decent end of the year for Die Schanzer that gave some hope that the German Bundesliga status can be saved and that the team could actually climb out of the relegation zone. However, a long road is still ahead and it starts on Saturday when they take on the Royal Blues. The team went undefeated during the two games played in the break, going 0 – 0 against the 1.FC Nurnberg and defeating the 1.FC Heidenheim with 3 – 0. The team has not been reinforced for the 2nd part of the season, while the only departure was Hauke Wahl who left the team and joined 1.FC Heidenheim on a loan.
The FC Ingolstadt is taking a trip to Gelsenkirchen with 6 points out of their last 3 Bundesliga matches. It will be only the 3rd match-up between the two teams, with Ingolstadt recording a 3 – 1 win at home and 1 – 1 draw at the Veltins-Arena last season. However, I am leaning towards the hosting team in this one and I really like the -115 that’s on the table for Schalke to win this game.
SUNDAY, January 22nd – 1 Featured Match
Bayer Leverkusen vs Hertha Berlin
3-Way: 1: Bayer Leverkusen -125 Home; X: +282 Draw; 2: Hertha Berlin +462 Away
Total 2.5: Over +102; Under -103
Analysis and Prediction:
Wrapping up our 3-game feature for Round 17 of the German Bundesliga is the match-up between the Bayer Leverkusen who take on the Hertha Berlin at the BayArena on Sunday afternoon. Both teams possess the quality to be ranked at the very top of the table, but currently it seems like the visitors are in a much better form and are showing much more consistency.
The hosts will look to even their win-loss record (6-7) on Sunday when they host the high-flying visitors from Berlin. It was not the conclusion of the year Bayer Leverkusen has hoped for, as they lost to FC Ingolstadt at home (1 – 2) before going winless on the road against the 1.FC Koln (1 – 1). It seemed that the winter break in the German Bundesliga came at the right moment for the hosts whose ship was sinking deeper as the year was coming to its end. With only 21 points to their account (6 points behind the European competition spot) the Pharmacists will look to exploit home soil advantage and record a much needed victory. Their performances during the break against the Atletico MG (1 – 0) and Estudiantes (1 – 1) indicate that the team might be ready to kick-off the Round 17 the right way.
Vedad Ibisevic will lead the attacking formation of the Hertha Berlin with hopes to record his first win at the BayArena (1D 7L). The visitors are currently ranked third having collected 30 points, and if there were not for the 2 slips in December (RB Leipzig 0 – 2 and Werder Bremen 0 – 1) the Old Lady would have been right behind the top-ranked Bayern Munich. Jens Hogeler was the only departure during the break, as he decided to join the Bristol City FC. Hertha played two friendly matches and recorded 1 win (1 – 0 Poblense) and 1 draw (1 – 1 Mallorca). Pal Dardais side will travel to Leverkusen without Salomon Kalou, who is absent due to his performance at the African Cup of Nations, while Mitchel Wieser remains out of action with a thigh injury.
The visitors have not seen a lot of success against the Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga as of lately, especially at the BayArena. Namely, in the last 6 meetings, Leverkusen won 5 games, while suffering only 1 loss. Leverkusen was victorious in the last three meetings at the BayArena. Both teams scored at least 3 goals in their last three meetings in Leverkusen. Although I don’t expect a spectacular game, I am tempted by the +102 for the over. Vedad Ibisevic might actually score a goal for the visitors, but I do expect the home team to score more and win this game.
