The showdown between two teams that are entering the new German Bundesliga season with great expectations will close down the Round 1 of the 2017/18 Bundesliga season at Borussia-Park on Sunday. This will probably present a perfect opportunity for us to finalize hopefully a successful weekend when it comes to betting, with one more financial victory. Also, for those of us who are going to be less fortunate on the first day of the weekend, this matchup could be considered as a remedy in order to at least get the things back on the beginning.
No matter the outcome, some great quality and fun-providing soccer should be seen and we as the fans are looking forward to it. In order to wrap up the week 1, that is notoriously very hard to predict given the fact that most of the teams haven’t played any official games this season yet, we’ll do our best to try to enrich your pockets with some green. As mentioned above, a preview of the last week 1 matchup is ready so let’s take a closer look.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. FC Koln
Three-Way: 1: Bor. M’Gladbach +163; X: +275 Draw; FC Koln +333
Spread -0.5: Bor. M’Gladbach -105; FC Koln +100
Total +2.5: Over -106; Under +104
BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH
Finishing at the No. 9 spot in the Bundesliga table last year was definitely an underachievement for the team that played in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals game just a couple of seasons ago. Borussia Monchengladbach was one of the most successful German teams during the ninety-seventies and the ninety-eighties, snatching two UEFA Cup Trophies ( a competition that preceded UEFA Europa League) and recording one appearance in UEFA Champions League Finals (1977 finals – lost against Liverpool 3:1). We’re not sure if the Foals will ever get back on the roads of the past glory but the board is certainly trying to go in that direction.
During the offseason they were relatively active on the transfer market, spending big money on signings of talented new players. Most prominent roster additions were Centre-Back Matthias Ginter who came from Dortmund (17.00 Mill. Euros) and defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria who came from Swiss side BSC Young Boys (12.00 Mill. Euros). Other notable additions were left winger Vicenzo Grifo (6.00 Mill. Euros) and Centre-Forward Raul Bobadilla (2.00 Mill. Euros) who came from league rivals SC Freiburg and FC Augsburg. Seventeen years old young prospect Mickael Cuisance who plays at the position of central midfielder was signed from French side AS Nancy U19 for a fee worth 250.000 Euros while Florian Neuhaus joined the team on a free transfer basis after his contract in 1860 Munich team expired.
On the other side, there were a couple of notable departures including central midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud who signed with Dortmund for a fee worth about 12.00 Mill. Euros while Andre Hahn went north by signing with Hamburger SV (6.00 Mill. Euros). Left-Back Nico Schulz signed with TSG Hoffenheim (3.00 Mill. Euros), right-back Julian Korb signed with Hannover 96 (3.00 Mill. Euros) and central midfielder Djibril Sow signed with BSC Young Boys (2.00 Mill. Euros).
Tobias Strobl (cruciate ligament) will be out until early February next year while Fabian Johnson’s (back) and Tony Jantschke’s (muscle) status is unknown. Raul Marcelo Bobadilla (thigh) is day-to-day while Mamadou Doucoure (thigh), Josip Drmic (knee), Thimothee Kolodziejczak (thigh, knee) and Reece Oxford (ankle) are all back in training.
FC KOLN
The Billy Goats recorded a pretty solid first part of the Bundesliga season last year (undefeated in first seven rounds) and thanks to relatively good finale of the season (undefeated in last six rounds), along with some other team’s results going their way, they managed to finish the season ranked fifth in the Bundesliga thus earning an automatic UEFA Europa League group stage berth.
The team obviously took this for most of the fans surprising gift very seriously by adding a couple of very good players that will have an immediate impact on the squad. Also, they proved to know how to do business during the transfer window as they sold one of their starters, a twenty-nine years old striker Anthony Modeste for an unbelievably large sum of money to Chinese team TJ Quanjian (34.70 Mill. Euros) making the roster strengthening through acquiring new players possible. Besides young midfielder Marcel Hartel who signed with Union Berlin (250.000 Euros) and defender Neven Subotic whose loan spell ended, Modeste, is the only guy that left the team during the offseason.
On the other side they signed attacker Jhon Cordoba from FSV Mainz (17.00 Mill. Euros) and defenders Jorge Mere from Sporting Gijon (7.00 Mill. Euros) and Jannes Horn from VfL Wolfsburg (7.00 Mill. Euros) while snatching one of the most talented young prospects in the Europe, nineteen years old Centre-Back from Portuguese side Braga U19 team, Joao Queiroz. Also, another nineteen years old, Left-Back Tim Handwerker from Leverkusen U19 team signed with FC Koln on a free transfer basis.
Head coach Peter Stoger will not have Yuya Osako (ankle) at his disposal on Sunday while Leonardo Bittencourt’s (muscle), Milos Jojic’s (muscle) and Thomas Kessler’s (finger) status is unknown. Sven Muller should be back in a few days while the summer break addition Jhon Cordoba (knee) is back in training and will be in the contest for the starter role.
Bor. M’Gladbach vs. FC Koln – Match Prediction
The last matchup of the Bundesliga round 1 will certainly not lack of the excitement and, hopefully, goals. Both teams are entering this season-opening encounter with high spirits and much to prove. The hosts have been more successful when we look at the head-to-head matchups over the last couple of season, winning 3, while FC Koln won 2 matches. There were no draws in their last 5 matchups. Important to note is certainly the fact that their last two clashes have combined a total of 8 goals scored.
This game has the biggest chance of being a high-scoring one and my money goes on over 2.5 goals in total. Winning team will be hard to predict and I don’t think that there is going to be one, so for those braves one, I would suggest going with the draw as well.
My pick: Over 2.5 goals (-106)
Additional Pick: Draw (+275)
