As usual, the busiest day of the German Bundesliga competition, Saturday, will feature six showdowns and in this preview, we bring you the analysis for three of those. First one will take place at Borussia Park between Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen. The hosts are coming off from a road win at Weserstadion over Werder (0:2) while Leverkusen failed to get a full prey with a 2:2 home draw against the Wolves. The second matchup features the duel in Frankfurt between Eintracht and Dortmund. The current leader, the Yellow-Blacks finally lost a game last week against RB Leipzig (2:3) and it will be very interesting to see if they can bounce back right away.
The final matchup features the duel at WWK Arena where the FC Augsburg who is coming off from a road draw in Sinsheim (2:2) will host the newcomers Hannover 96 who managed to string together two consecutive defeats.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Three-Way: 1: Borussia Monchengladbach +154; X: +278 Draw; Bayer Leverkusen +215
Spread 0: Borussia Monchengladbach -118; Bayer Leverkusen +114
Total +3: Over -112; Under +102
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
The meltdown that occurred in Dortmund three weeks ago when Monchengladbach lost the game 6:1, obviously turned some red lights in the minds of their players and since then they’ve managed to record two consecutive wins. The latest one occurred in Bremen where Lars Stindl and Jesse Vestergaard sealed the destiny for the hosts by scoring two swift goals.
Currently, Monchengladbach ranks at No. 5 spot in the Bundesliga table with 15 points earned in eight games and a 4-2-2 record. They score 1.50 and concede 1.50 goals per game and 50% of their total matches had over 2.5 goals in total while in 25% of their home games both teams scored. Stindl tops the team in scoring with three goals so far while Thorgan Hazard and Raffael have two each in their accounts. Passing segment belongs to Christoph Kramer and Matthias Ginter with 438 and 397 total passes while goalies Tobias Sippel and Yann Sommer recorded 24 saves and three clean-sheet games combined.
Laszlo Benes (foot) is expected to be out until at least mid-December while Tobias Strobl (cruciate ligament) will not see any action before February next year. Raul Marcelo Bobadilla (hip) is listed as day to day while Josip Drmic (knee) and Mamadou Doucoure (thigh) are back in training.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN
The Bayer Leverkusen team is also in a positive streak having in mind that they didn’t lose a game in last three Bundesliga rounds but two of those matchups were draws. The team is pretty solid at home but on the road they have only one point won (0-1-3 record). The positive aspect, on the other hand, is the fact that they’ve managed to score at least one goal in every matchup so far.
They currently rank at the No. 12 spot in the league table with nine points earned after eight rounds and 2-3-3 total record. Their goal difference is 15-13 (4-9 away) and 62% of their total matches had over 3.5 goals in total. Teams’ leading scorer is Kevin Volland with four goals while Lucas Alario and Julian Brandt have scored two each so far. Top assisters are Charles Aranguiz and Leon Bailey with two each while Sven Bender holds the passing game under control with 425 total passes recorded. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno has 17 saves and two games with clean sheets so far.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Bayer Leverkusen – Match Prediction
This game has a big potential of being a high-scoring one and that’s where I would go with my money first. On the other side, a home team win also sounds right but that will be my additional pick having in mind that it presents a bigger risk.
My pick: Total: Over 3 goals (-112)
Additional pick: Borussia Monchengladbach to win (+154)
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Dortmund
Three-Way: 1: Eintracht Frankfurt +430; X: +305 Draw; Dortmund -120
Spread +0.5: Eintracht Frankfurt +127; Dortmund -132
Total +2.5: Over -137; Under +131
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT
The Eintracht Frankfurt team finally recorded a home victory two weeks ago and that obviously was used as a catalyst for hyping up their form because they emerged victorious again last week recording their first back-to-back wins of the new Bundesliga season. This sudden rise of form has propelled them in the Bundesliga table and they now rank seventh with 14 points after eight rounds.
Their goal difference is 8-7 (4-1-3 record) and 67% of their home matches had over 2.5 goals in total while in 50% of their total matches both teams scored. Leading scorers are Sebastien Haller and Ante Rebic with three goals each while Marius Wolf recorded team-high two assists so far. Passing segment is being dominated by defenders David Abraham and Simon Falette with 260 and 217 total passes while goalie Lukas Hradecky has 22 saves and three clean-sheet games.
Falette is suspended for the next matchup while Danny Vieira da Costa (thigh) and Omar Mascarell (Achilles) both have significant injuries and will not be available until December. Alexander Meier’s (ankle) and Yanni Regasel’s (back) status is unknown while Noel Knothe (foot), Marius Wolf (calf), Jonathan De Gutman (thigh), Slobodan Medojevic (calf) and Gelson Fernandes (thigh) are all listed as day to day. Timothy Chandler (Achilles) and Marc Stendera (illness) should be back in a few days.
DORTMUND
The Borussia Dortmund team recorded their first defeat of the season last week as they got outplayed by the Bulls from Leipzig at Signal Iduna Park. As we’ve accurately predicted, long injury list combined with RB Leipzig’s players determination resulted in a 3:2 victory for the guests and showed us that the Yellow-Blacks from Dortmund are not exactly untouchable this season. Another relatively bad result for Peter Bosz’s team played out on Tuesday when Borussia managed to get only a draw against Cyprian side APOEL as most of us expected that they’ll take the full prey.
They are still the leaders of the Bundesliga caravan with 19 points earned after eight rounds, two more than second-ranked Bayern Munich. Their goal difference is 23-5 (8-1 on the road) with a 6-1-1 record. Three of four Dortmund’s matchups have over 2.5 goals per match while in 38% of their total duels, both teams scored. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tops the team and the league with 10 goals so far while Maximilian Philipp has four in his account. Mahmoud Dahoud collected team-high three assists while Sokratis controls the passing segment so far with 632 total passes. Goalie Roman Burki has 21 saves and five clean-sheet games so far.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos is suspended for two matches while Lukasz Piszczek (knee) and Hendrik Bonmann (knee) are expected to be back in early November. Eric Durm (hip) should be back in a few days while Marco Reus (cruciate ligament) won’t see any action until late March next year. Omer Toprak’s (thigh) and Sebastian Rode’s (groin) status is unknown while Andre Schurrle (thigh) and Raphael Guerreiro (foot) are back in training.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Dortmund – Match Prediction
It will be very interesting to see how the Dortmund team will cope with last week’s first loss of the season in the Bundesliga. It will also present a test to see how strong they actually are and I think that they’ll pass the exam, but I don’t think that it will be a high-scoring game.
My pick: Total: Under 2.5 goals (+131)
Additional pick: Dortmund (-120)
FC Augsburg vs. Hannover 96
Three-Way: 1: FC Augsburg +114; X: +260 Draw; Hannover 96 +290
Spread: -0.5: FC Augsburg +108; Hannover 96 -115
Total +2.5: Over +106; Under -112
FC AUGSBURG
The in-form spell that lasted through the start of the Bundesliga season for Augsburg team is slowly coming to an end as they’re winless in last three rounds. Still, last two matchups featured very strong opponents like Dortmund and Hoffenheim against who they’ve managed to snatch a road point last Saturday (2:2). The upcoming home matchup against the team whose form is going south like Sherman lately is exactly what the squad needs in order to regain its stance and get back on the track of winning the games.
They currently rank at No. 8 spot in the league table with 12 points in eight games and a 3-3-2 record (2-1-1 at home). Their goal difference is 11-8 (7-4 at home soil) and 62% of their total matches had under 2.5 goals in total. Striker Alfred Finnbogason authored four goals so far and that makes him the team’s leading scorer while defender Philipp Max collected team-high four assists. Midfield guru Daniel Baier tops the team in passing segment with 256 total passes while goalie Marwin Hitz has 26 saves and three clean-sheet games recorded.
Sergio Cordova (ankle) should be back in a few weeks while Joannis Gelios’s (back) and Martin Hinteregger’s (ankle) status is unknown. Daniel Opare (groin), Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Backer (virus), Raphael Framberger (knee), Georg Teigl (back), Moritz Leitner (ankle) and Marvin Friedrich (muscle) are all listed as day to day while Tim Rieder (knee) is back in training.
HANNOVER 96
After initial six weeks when the newcomers to the Bundesliga were undefeated, gloomy days have finally arrived at the HDI Arena as Hannover 96 team recorded two consecutive losses against Monchengladbach on the road (1:2) and Frankfurt at home (1:2). They’re actually winless in last four games and changing this trend this week on the road will be a very difficult task.
The team currently ranks at No. 9 spot in the league table with 10 points in eight matchups (3-3-2 record) and their goal difference is 8-6 (4-4 away). 75% of their total matches had under 2.5 goals in total and no game had over 3.5 goals in total but still, both teams scored in 50% of their total duels. Martin Harnik is the team’s leading scorer with five goals while Ihlas Bebou, Jonathas and Sane Salif have one each. Leading assister is Pirmin Schwegler while Salif also controls the passing game with 331 total passes so far. Goalkeeper Philipp Tschauner has 26 saves and four clean-sheet games recorded.
Felipe (thigh) and Edgar Prib (cruciate ligament) are expected to be back at the beginning of the next year while Marvin Bakalorz’s (ankle) and Noah-Joel Sarenren-Bazee’s (thigh) status is unknown. Uffe Bech (knee) is listed as day to day while Miko Albornoz (thigh) is back in training.
FC Augsburg vs. Hannover 96 – Match Prediction
Oppose to other Bundesliga matchups in this preview, this duel looks exactly like the business as usual in Germany this year (under 2.5 goals in total) but in my opinion, the home team win is a bit less risky pick and that’s where I would go here. Still, fewer than 2.5 goals in total remains as the additional pick.
My pick: FC Augsburg (+114)
Additional pick: Under 2.5 goals (-112)
