The first matchup in this preview features teams that have earned only one point after the first two rounds of the German Bundesliga combined, as Mainz recorded two defeats and Leverkusen recorded a draw and a loss. The losing team of this duel will probably be one of several squads that will be fighting for the survival for the rest of the season. Second duel will take place at Borussia-Park and should provide us with some high-certainty outcomes that we will elaborate in further text. The third and final matchup is also the showdown between teams that didn’t start the season on the right foot as they too have only one point earned in the first two rounds combined (FC Augsburg – loss and a draw; FC Koln – two defeats). It’s time to make your piggy bank a bit fatter so let’s take a closer look.
FSV Mainz vs. Bayer Leverkusen
Three-Way: 1: FSV Mainz +202; X: +260 ; Bayer Leverkusen +165
Spread 0: FSV Mainz +120; Bayer Leverkusen -122
Total +2.5: Over -118; Under +120
FSV MAINZ
The FSV Mainz team started the German Bundesliga campaign very poorly with two consecutive 1:0 defeats. If we judge the day by the morning, things are not looking very good for the Reds right now and it’s time to bounce back in order to improve the league table position. I’m sure that the fans and the players want to avoid last season’s battle for survival but I’m not sure that the team has enough juice to accomplish that.
The most worrisome thing for the head coach Sandro Schwarz who took over the team during the summer is the fact that they haven’t scored a goal in 190 minutes of play so far. Formation with only one true striker on the field (Yoshimori Muto) is clearly not giving the results it should and a switch to two-striker formation looks like a logical move. Still, we’ll see how the team will cope with the first relatively easier opponent of the season.
Jannik Huth (knee) and Alexander Hack (ankle) should be ready by the end of this month while Niko Bungert’s (thigh), Phillip Klement’s (thigh) and Emil Berggreen’s (muscle) status is unknown. Aaron Seydel (knee) is day to day while Marin Sverko (muscle) and Gaetan Bussman (groin) are back in training.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN
The Factory XI (popular nickname for Bayer Leverkusen in Germany) team has seen better days. The squad that played in the UEFA Champions League Finals just a decade ago just can’t reach the upper part of the Bundesliga table in the last couple of years and it looks like this trend might continue in 2017 as they have only one point earned after two rounds. To be fair, their opponents in the first two weeks were Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim, teams that earned the European team competitions berths last year.
In week 3 they’ll face another drowning team and this will be a good chance to gain the momentum for the upcoming weeks. Good news is that Leverkusen’s players don’t have any trouble scoring the goals as they managed to get one in the first week at Allianz Arena against defending champion (3:1 loss). On the other side, defense has to tighten up and the positive result should come.
Joel Pohjanpalo (hip) is out until late September while Jonathan Tah (knee) is listed day to day. Sven Bender’s (rib) status is unknown.
FSV Mainz vs. Bayer Leverkusen – Match Prediction
This should be the game when the Mainz team finally scores its first goal of the new Bundesliga season and having in mind that Leverkusen’s strikers already showed that they can find the opponents’ goalie net, the both teams to score betting pick makes the most sense. An additional pick is a draw.
My pick: Both teams score (-149)
Additional pick: Draw (+260)
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Three-Way: 1: Borussia Monchengladbach +100; X: +276 Draw; Eintracht Frankfurt +359
Spread: -0.5: Borussia Monchengladbach -111; Eintracht Frankfurt +106
Total +2.5: Over +104; Under -109
BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH
The Foals are undefeated after the first two Bundesliga rounds with a 1:0 win in an opener against FC Koln and a 2:2 draw in Augsburg week after and that’s already a better start of the season than last year. They play this week again at home and the team will have the chance to improve their Bundesliga table position even further (currently at No. 6).
An interesting fact is that all three goals for the squad were scored by the defensive unit, right-back Nico Elvedi, left-back Oscar Wendt and defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria. This could be the game when Brazilian national Raffael and the team captain Lars Stindl finally score as described in their center-forward job description.
Ibrahima Traore (thigh) should be available in a few weeks while Tobias Strobl (cruciate ligament) should be back in early February next year. Vicenzo Grifo’s (knee) and Raul Marcelo Bobadilla’s (ankle) status is unknown while Jonas Hofmann (foot) and Mamadou Doucoure (thigh) are listed as day to day. Tony Jantschke (thigh) and Josip Drmic (knee) are back in training.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT
The Temperamental diva (nickname for Eintracht Frankfurt team) is off to a worse start of the season than last year with only one point after the first two rounds (last year they had three points). The Eagles survived the 2016 season thanks to the first three months of the competition when they recorded only two defeats in first 14 games and if the strong start absents they might get in trouble.
Similarly, as Mainz, they haven’t scored a goal yet and that will be the imperative if they want to get any kind of positive result in Monchengladbach. Still, the defense doesn’t seem off track as they conceded only one goal in 180 minutes of play so far but finishing the game with a clean sheet against Borussia at Borussia-Park is not an easy bet.
Omar Mascarell (Achilles tendon) should be back in mid-January next year while Alexander Meier (ankle) should be available as early as next month. Marco Russ’s (unknown), Yanni Regase’s (back) and Danny Vieira da Costa’s (thigh) status is unknown while Danny Blum (neck) should be back in a few weeks. Leon Batge (knee) is back in training.
Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Eintracht Frankfurt – Match Prediction
I think that Monchengladbach team has enough strength to emerge victorious here but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens to be a minimal one-goal difference win. No goals scored at a halftime also looks like a good pick.
My pick: Borussia Monchengladbach (+100)
Additional pick: 0:0 half-time result (+185)
FC Augsburg vs. FC Koln
Three-Way: 1: FC Augsburg +156; X: +240 Draw; FC Koln +216
Spread 0: FC Augsburg -128; FC Koln +125
Total +2.5: Over +125; Under -130
FC AUGSBURG
The FC Augsburg team had a pretty tough schedule in the first two rounds of the new Bundesliga campaign, but they still managed to snatch one point with a 2:2 draw at home against Monchengladbach. Now they’ll have the chance to record a first win against the team that has two defeats in first two weeks, FC Koln.
On the other side, this could be a bit troubling game to predict because FC Koln team looks much stronger when we look at the players that are on the roster and it could be a matter of time when they’re going to wake up and start dominating. International breaks can have this kind of effect on the teams as they get enough time to regroup and remedy some of the issues so thread carefully.
Raphael Framberger’s (knee) and Tim Rieder’s (knee) status is unknown while Marvin Friedrich (muscle) and Jan Moravek (muscle) are listed as day to day. Georg Teigl (back) and Moritz Leitner (ankle) are back in training.
FC KOLN
The team that suddenly managed to earn the UEFA Europa League berth last season strengthened its squad during the summer transfer period but it doesn’t look like the players are clicking as they obviously need some kind of a transition period to get the chemistry on the right level. They lost both Bundesliga games so far while scoring only one goal and conceding four.
Hopefully, they have used this break in German Bundesliga play to remedy the weak spots and improve overall performance on the field in order to get some points on the league table scoreboard.
Milos Jojic’s (knee) status is unknown while Timo Horn (hip) should be back in few days. Marcel Risse (muscle) is back in training.
FC Augsburg vs. FC Koln – Match Prediction
This could be the game of “business as usual” in German Bundesliga meaning that there should be under 2.5 goals scored in total. FC Augsburg did score two goals in week 2 game and FC Koln did concede three goals in week 2 game but I think that teams have used this international break to buckle up their lines with a low-scoring game as a result.
My pick: Under 2.5 goals (-130)
Additional pick: Draw (+240)
