Clashes that will take place in Ingolstadt and Munich on Saturday as a part of the final round of the German Bundesliga should also provide some interesting and insightful soccer play.
The match-up at the Audi Sportpark between Ingolstadt FC and the visitors from Gelsenkirchen has no result imperative because everything is already known as Schalke 04 will not play in any European competition next year and Ingolstadt will play in the Zweita.
The match-up at the Allianz Arena should be a bit more interesting because Freiburg needs a win if they want to secure the Europa League berth while the new/old German Bundesliga champion probably is pretty reluctant to end the season with anything other than the win that will precede the championship celebration with the fans. Analysis of this games is just below so let’s take a closer look.
INGOLSTADT FC vs. FC SCHALKE 04
3-Way: 1: Ingolstadt FC +170; X: +277 Draw; 2: FC Schalke 04 +167
Spread 0: Ingolstadt FC -103; FC Schalke 04 -102
Total +3: Over +106; Under -109
INGOLSTADT FC
The Ingolstadt FC lost theoretical chances of survival in the German Bundesliga two weeks ago and to be quite frank, they didn’t deserve to stay in the German top flight after the performances that they’ve displayed this season. Team will finish the season ranked 19th, with 31 points in 33 match-ups.
All they can do now is try to award the fans with one last positive result at home before moving to Zweita and having in mind that they play this final game against a very poor Schalke 04 team, this accomplishment is not very far from happening.
Team is winless in last five German Bundesliga games and they are 3-3-2 in the last eight games including a 2-1-1 record at home in the last four match-ups. Overall record at home is 4-4-8 with 20-29 goal difference (35-56 overall) and they represent a worst home team this season as they are ranked last in the home league table with only 16 of 48 possible points earned. Most common result at home this year was 2:0 loss (occurred five times) while most common score at the halftime was 0:0 (occurred four times).
Almog Cohen tops the team in scoring with seven goals while Dario Lezcano has six in his account. Markus Suttner is the team’s leading assister with five while passing segment belongs to midfielder Pascal Gross who collected 1028 total passes. Goalies Martin Hansen (23 appearances) and Orjan Nyland (11 appearances) collected 91 saves along with only three games with clean sheets combined.
When it comes to injuries, only Moritz Hartmann is unavailable because of the thigh injury.
FC SCHALKE 04
The FC Schalke 04 team is one of the biggest floppers of the German Bundesliga this season. Most unpredictable squad that can win and lose a game against anyone (especially lose) is the correct description of the Miners this year. The cost of this consistent inconsistency is visible now at the end of the competition year as team from Gelsenkirchen will finish the season ranked in the middle of the German Bundesliga table with no European competitions secured for the upcoming season.
Recent form is also troubling as they are 2-3-3 in last eight games with no streaks (two consecutive wins, losses or draws) including a 1-0-3 record in last four road games. Overall record on the road is 3-4-9 with 15-24 goal difference (44-39) resulting in the No. 14 spot in the away league table with 13 of 48 possible points earned. Most common result on the road was 2:1 loss (occurred four times) while most common score at the Halftime was 0:0 (occurred six times).
Guido Burgstaller tops the team in scoring with nine goals scored in the German Bundesliga, while Sead Kolasinac leads the team in assisting with five. Passing segment belongs to Benedikt Howedes and Nabil Bentaleb with 1421 and 1197 total passes while goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann (33 appearances) has 71 saves and eight games with clean sheets.
Leading assiter, left back Sead Kolasinac (yellow cards) is suspended for Saturday while Alessandro Schopf and Baba Rahman are both out for the season because of the cruciate ligament afflictions. Eric Choupo-Moting (Knee), Naldo (Groin) and Breel Donald Embolo (Broken Ankle) are all doubtful.
INGOLSTADT FC vs. FC SCHALKE 04 – Match Prediction
Safe bet here by my opinion would be under 3 goals in total. It will probably be too hard to motivate the players knowing that there is not much at stake. Nevertheless, for those of you who are braver, I would suggest a home team win pick.
MY PICK: Under 3 goals (-109)
Additional Pick: FC Ingolstadt to win (+170)
FC BAYERN MUNICH vs. SC FREIBURG
3-Way: 1: Bayern Munich -455; X: +761 Draw; 2: SC Freiburg +1450
Spread -2.5: Bayern Munich +112; SC Freiburg -118
Total +4: Over +102; Under -110
FC BAYERN MUNICH
The new old champions of German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, have one more season behind them in which they dominated the league competition. However, they were not very successful in the other competitions in which they participated, like the Champions League (quarterfinals exit) and DFB Pokal (semifinals exit) but a top place in the German Bundesliga table with 13 points advantage over the second closest team does bring a certain flair and sense of pride.
Team is 12-4-0 at home and their next opponent will have to do what no team has done this season if they want to accomplish their goal (Freiburg must win if they want to secure Europa league berth). Bayern is also 5-2-1 in last eight games and 3-1-0 in last four games at Allianz Arena. Team has scored at least one goal in every home game this season and goal difference at home is mesmerizing 51-8 (85-21 overall). Clearly, they rank first in the home league table with 40 of 48 possible points earned. Most common results at home were 1:1 draw and 3:0 win (both occurred three times) and most common score at the halftime was 2:0 lead (occurred five times).
Polish striker Robert Lewandowski tops the team and the German Bundesliga with magnificent 30 goals this season while Dutch winger Arjen Robben has 12 in his account. Thomas Muller and Franck Ribery are the leading assisters with 12 and 11 while passing segment belongs to Thiago Alcantara who collected 2286 total passes (most in the league). Goalies Manuel Neuer (26 appearances), Sven Ulreich (five appearances) and Tom Starke (two appearances) collected 68 saves along with 17 games with clean sheets combined.
Javier Martinez (Collarbone), Sven Ulreich (Elbow) and Manuel Neuer (Broken foot) are out for the season while Franck Ribery (Chest) is listed as doubtful.
SC FREIBURG
The SC Freiburg team missed the chance to secure the Europa league berth with an unusual home draw against Ingolstadt last week, the team that has already been relegated to Zweita. Now, they face a much tougher challenge as they have to get some kind of a positive result from Allianz Arena, stadium that very few teams in German Bundesliga have left undefeated this year.
Their recent form is not really bad (4-1-3 in last eight games) so there might be some room for optimism. Team is 4-4-8 on the road this season with 18-32 goal difference (41-56 overall) and they rank 11th in the road league table with 16 of 48 possible points earned. Most common results on the road are 1:1 draw and 3:0 loss (both occurred three times) while most common score at the halftime was 0:0 (occurred four times).
Striker Florian Niederlechner tops the team in scoring with 11 goals while Nils Petersen and Maximilian Phillip have nine each in their accounts. Leading assister is Vincenzo Grifo with six assists while passing segment’s best operator is Nicolas Hofler with 1068 total passes. Goalie Alexander Schowlow (33 appearances) collected 90 saves while he also has six games with clean sheets so far.
Georg Niedermeier (Groin), Mike Frantz (Foot) an Havard Nielsen (Calf) are listed as doubtful while Marc Torrejon Moya (Groin) is back in training.
FC BAYERN MUNICH vs. SC FREIBURG – Match Preview
The guests need all three points but I extremely doubt that they have the juice to take down Bayern in Munich on the day that they will celebrate the title with their fans. At least one goal scored by both teams would be my safest bet here.
MY PICK: Both teams score (-132)
Total: Over 4 goals (+102)
