Saturday’s double-matchup preview of the German Bundesliga Round 12 primarily features the duel that will take place at Rhein-Neckar Arena between TSG Hoffenheim team that managed to end the four-game winless streak with a 3:0 road victory in Koln two weeks ago and Eintracht Frankfurt who is undefeated in last five duels. They’re coming off from a 2:1 home win over Werder Bremen.
The second showdown will take place at Volkswagen Arena between the Wolves who posted the seventh consecutive draw last round (Bundesliga record) and Freiburg team that suffered a 0:1 home loss in the last round against Schalke 04 squad.
TSG Hoffenheim 1899 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Three-Way: 1: TSG Hoffenheim 1899 +134; X: +271 Draw; 2: Eintracht Frankfurt +240 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -0.5: TSG Hoffenheim 1899 +127; Eintracht Frankfurt -130
Total +2.5: Over -133; Under +137
TSG HOFFENHEIM 1899
After an almost perfect start of the season, Hoffenheim suffered their first loss in Week 7 and it proved to be the catalyst for the entire month of underperforming in Bundesliga and in UEFA Europa League. The Blues from Sinsheim finally managed to end the negative skid with the win over drowning FC Koln team prior to the international break and the squad looks eager to continue with the positive results.
Currently, they rank at No. 5 spot in the Bundesliga table with 19 points and a 5-4-2 record. They score 1.82 and concede 1.27 goals per game (20-14 goal difference) and 55% of their matches had over 2.5 goals in total while 33% of their home games had over 3.5 goals in total. Both teams scored in 64% of Hoffenheim’s duels and the most common score at home is a 2:0 win (occurred twice). Mark Uth tops the team in scoring with five goals while Sandro Wagner has four in his account. Andrej Kramaric is the top assister with three while goalkeeper Oliver Baumann has 161 shots against, 36 saves and four clean-sheet games so far.
Pavel Kaderabek (knee) should be back in mid-December while Meris Skenderovic’s (thigh) status is unknown. Benjamin Hubner (muscle) is listed as day to day while Stefan Posch (rib), Dennis Geiger (thigh), Adam Szalai (groin) and Ermin Bicakcic (knee) are all back in training.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT
The Eagles are currently flying high as they are undefeated in the last five Bundesliga rounds with three wins and two draws recorded but having in mind the team’s tendencies in the last couple of years, the end of a fruitful period is only a matter of time. Also, if we take into the consideration the last couple of seasons, a period of poor results will follow because Eintracht Frankfurt squad performs in streaks.
They are at the No. 7 spot in the Bundesliga table with 18 points and a 5-3-3 record (3-2-1 on the road). Their goal difference is 13-11 (6-4 as visitors) and they’ve managed to score at least one goal in each of their last nine matches, including last five away games. Also, they seem to be very mentally tough squad having in mind that 38% of their scored goals came in the last 15 minutes of the duel. 55% of their matches had over 2.5 goals in total while 66% of their road games had under 2.5 goals in total and no road matchup has yet had over 3.5 goals after the final whistle. Forward Sebastian Haller leads the team in scoring with five goals while Marius Wolf has team-high two assists. Goalie Lukas Hradecky has 134 shots against, 33 saves and three clean-sheet games at the moment.
Jonathan De Guzman (shoulder, muscle) should be available at the beginning of the next year along with Omar Mascarell (Achilles tendon) and Alexander Meier (ankle) while Timothy Chandler (meniscus) should be ready in late December. Marco Russ’s (Achilles tendon), Simon Falette’s (tooth) and Gelson Fernandes’s (thigh) status is unknown while Kevin-Prince Boateng (calf) is back in training.
TSG Hoffenheim 1899 vs. Eintracht Frankfurt – Match Prediction
This will be a very interesting matchup with two teams that are raising their form lately. Both teams score often and I think that there is a high possibility that this will be the case in this matchup. However, the odds are not very appealing on this pick so I will go with the home team to win all three points. For the brave ones, I would suggest going with a draw at the half-time.
My pick: Hoffenheim to win (+134)
Additional pick: Draw at half-time (+140)
VFL Wolfsburg vs. SC Freiburg
Three-Way: 1: VFL Wolfsburg -133; X: +305 Draw; 2: SC Freiburg +500 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -1: VFL Wolfsburg +125; SC Freiburg -127
Total +2.5: Over -111; Under +106
VFL WOLFSBURG
The Wolves are taking down all known records in German soccer history when it comes to a consecutive number of draws that is now set at seven straight. Also, none of those games were goalless draws with four 1:1 outcomes, two 2:2 scores and one 3:3 scoring fiesta that occurred in the last Bundesliga round against Hertha Berlin. Hopefully, it’s time for Wolfsburg to take the full prey on Saturday but we’ll come to that.
The team currently ranks at No 14 spot with 11 points and a 1-8-2 record (0-5-1 at home). Their goal difference is 13-16 (7-10 at home) and 66% of their home matches had under 2.5 goals in total while 27% of their overall matchups had over 3.5 goals in total. Both teams scored in 83% of their home soil games (highest percentage in Bundesliga) and the most common score at home is 1:1 draw (occurred four times). Divock Origi is the team’s top scorer with four goals while Daniel Didavi has three in his account. Didavi is also the leading assister with four while goalie Koen Casteels has 134 shots against, 34 saves and only one clean-sheet game.
Marvin Stefaniak’s (thigh) and Ignacio Camacho’s (ankle) status is unknown while Ohis Felix Udokhai (knee) and Christian Trasch (unknown) are listed as day to day. Adelino Vierinha (ankle) should be available in few days while Sebastian Jung (ankle) is back in training.
SC FREIBURG
The team from Schwarzwald region is winless in their last four Bundesliga duels and more importantly, three of those were defeats in which they didn’t score a single goal while conceding nine. Besides winless FC Koln and Werder Bremen squad, they are the worst team so far in Bundesliga which is very hard to believe having in mind that they started the season as participants in the UEFA Europa League. The end of the underperforming period should come soon but it will probably happen in a game with the support of their home crowd and not at the full-packed Wolfsburg’ cheering Volkswagen Arena.
As aforementioned, they currently rank below the relegation line at No. 16 spot in the league table with only eight points earned and 1-5-5 record (0-1-4 on the road). Their goal difference is 6-21 (1-16 as visitors) and 45% of their total matches had over 2.5 goals in total while 60% of their road games had over 3.5 goals in total. Two of six goals scored so far occurred after the 75th minute and they also failed to score in their last four away duels. The team managed to concede at least one goal in both halves in 60% of their visits and both teams scored in 36% of their overall showdowns. Florian Niederlechner is the top scorer with two goals while Nicolas Hofler tops the team in assisting with two. Goalkeeper Alexander Schowlow has 201 shots against, 43 saves and three clean-sheet games so far.
Mike Frantz (knee) is out for at least four more months while Philipp Lienhart (knee), Karim Guede (back), Vincent Sierro (hamstring), Jonas Meffert (foot), Manuel Gulde (back) and Georg Niedermeier (back) are all back in training.
VFL Wolfsburg vs. SC Freiburg –Match Prediction.
I know I’ve said it prior to the last round but I’ll repeat again, the Wolves are ripe for the first home win and poor Freiburg team should be a much weaker opponent than Hertha Berlin. When it comes to the number of goals I would go with under 2.5 in total here, because I expect a 1:0 or 2:0 home team win.
My pick: VFL Wolfsburg to win (-133)
Additional pick: Under 2.5 goals (+106)
