Two top teams in the German Bundesliga are set to lock horns on Saturday at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig as a part of Round 33. Bayern Munich is the new champion of Germany and they will play this game for prestige while Red Bull Leipzig needs one more point to secure the runner-up spot in their first season in top German soccer competition. We have two rounds left before another exhilarating season comes to an end and that’s why we have prepared for you the thorough analysis of this upcoming blockbuster battle. Let’s take a closer look.
FC RED BULL LEIPZIG vs. BAYERN MUNICH
Three-Way: 1: FC Red Bull Leipzig +320; X: +300 Draw; Bayern Munich +100
Spread +0.5: FC Red Bull Leipzig +100; Bayern Munich -104
Total +2.5: Over -147; Under +144
FC RED BULL LEIPZIG
The FC Red Bull Leipzig is the youngest team that competes in the German Bundesliga this season as they were founded on March 19th, 2009. Seven years later they found themselves competing with the behemoths of German soccer and on top of that, they have the chance to end up at the No. 2 spot, just behind the most successful German club and their next opponent, Bayern Munich.
Dream season for the newcomers in which they managed to qualify for the European Champions League competition next year is coming to an end and on Saturday they will have the chance for some payback against the team that gave them the biggest defeat this season (3:0 at the Allianz Arena on December 16th, last year).
Leipzig is currently ranked second in the German Bundesliga table with 66 points in 32 matches. As stated above, they’ve already secured the CL position and if they can earn one more point in the last two rounds, they will end up as the runner-ups.
This will be the biggest success by the newborn team in German soccer since Kaiserslautern FC became the Champions of Germany after just being promoted from “Zweita” in 1997/98 season. They are 5-3-1 in the last eight match-ups and they are 3-1-0 in the last four home games. Overall record at home this season is 12-2-2 and they rank fourth in the home league table with 31-11 goal difference (60-32 overall) with 38 of 48 possible points earned.
Team is undefeated in their last seven matches and they did not concede any goals in their last four games at Red Bull Arena. 62% of Leipzig’s home games had over 2.5 goals while 31% of their home matches had over 3.5 goals in total. No matches at home had over 4.5 goals in total and only 12% of team’s matchups had over 2.5 goals at the halftime. Team scored in both halves in 54% of the games in front of their own crowd and they conceded in both halves in only 9% of the match-ups. Both teams scored in 50% of Leipzig’s matches this season and most common results at home are 3:1 and 2:1 wins (both occurred three times). Most common score at the halftime is a 1:0 lead (occurred four times).
In form striker Timo Werner tops the team in scoring with 19 goals while Emil Forsberg and midfielder Naby Keita have eight each in their accounts. Forsberg leads the team and the league with 17 assists while Diego Demme and Stefan Ilsanker appear to be the passing masters with 1592 and 1147 total passes. Goalkeepers Peter Gulacsi (31 appearance) and Fabio Coltorti (one appearance) collected 54 saves and have respectable 10 games with clean sheets combined.
Willi Orban (Ankle injury) and Lukas Klostermann (Cruciate ligament injury) are both listed as doubtful for Saturday’s clash.
BAYERN MUNICH FC
Besides being the new old German Bundesliga Champions, Bayern Munich team has had a pretty unsuccessful season. The high-flying Reds from the South of Germany got stopped in the quarterfinals of the European Champions League by Real Madrid and they also got beaten at home soil by their biggest rival in the German soccer, Borussia Dortmund in the semifinal game of DFB Pokal (German Cup).
Carlo Ancelotti’s first season at the helm of the Bavarians is not meeting the expectations of the fans but his position in the team is probably still safe. Potential victory over the second best team in Germany this season on Saturday would have a stabilizing effect on the team while also providing the attribute of dominance in Germany for the fans.
The Bavarians rank at the top of the German Bundesliga with 76 points in 32 matches, ten more than their closest foe on the league table, their next opponent RB Leipzig. Team is 5-2-1 in the last eight games and they are 2-1-1 in the last four road matches. Overall record when visiting is 11-3-2 with 29-9 goal difference (80-17 overall) and they rank first in the road league table, earning the badge of best visiting team of the season with 36 of 48 possible points earned.
Bayern Munich scores 1.81. and concedes 0.56 goals away this season (2.50-0.53 overall) and they’ve managed to score at least one goal in 81% of their road games. Other interesting facts are that 76% of Bayern’s conceded goals occurred in first half and the team has scored the opening goal in 72% of their matches. 44% of team’s road games had over 2.5 goals while 75% of their away matches had under 3.5 goals in total. Most common result on the road is a 1:0 win (occurred three times) while most common score at the halftime was 0:0 (occurred six times).
Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski tops the team in scoring with 28 goals (tied for first in the league) while Arjen Robben has 11 so far. Thomas Muller and Franck Ribery have team-high 11 assists each while Robben recorded seven. Midfielder Thiago Alcantara and the defender Mats Hummels dominate the passing segment with astonishing 2230 and 1786 total passes. Goalies Manuel Neuer (26 appearances), Sven Ulreich (five appearances) and Tom Starke (one appearance) collected 66 saves and they also have remarkable 17 games with clean sheets.
Goalkeepers Manuel Neuer (Broken foot) and Sven Ulreich (Elbow injury) and defender Javier Martinez (Collarboen injury, Cold) are all out for the season while Kingsley Coman who is having some troubles with his right ankle is listed as doubtful for Saturday.
FC Red Bull Leipzig vs. Bayern Munich Match Prediction
This match-up presents the sum of the entire season in the German Bundesliga and even without being very significant when it comes to the result and the order in the league table it should present a pulse-racing experience. Two teams that have showed most quality and talent this year will notch up one round before the end of the season and a game for memories might be in front of us. My safe bet here would be at least one goal scored by both teams. A draw sounds good to me after the final whistle.
My pick: Both teams score (-159)
Additional Pick: Draw (+300)
