Here we have prepared for you an in-depth analysis of two matches of an upcoming Bundesliga week 14 duels that will take place on Saturday in Bremen and Gelsenkirchen between home teams and their opponents from Stuttgart and Koln.
Final double-match preview of Round 14 in German Bundesliga contains the showdowns from Wesser Stadium and Veltins Arena. In Bremen, the home team that is coming off from a road loss in Leipzig (2:0) will lock horns with one of the worst visitors of the season, VfB Stuttgart squad that earned their first road point of the year last week in Hannover.
Duel in Gelsenkirchen will feature one of the top-five squads this season, Schalke 04 that is coming off from a high-scoring fiesta in Dortmund last weekend (4:4) and the worst team of the season, FC Koln squad that recorded their fourth straight loss last Sunday at home against Hertha BSC. We’re wrapping up the first day of the weekend when it comes to German Bundesliga so don’t miss it!
SV Werder Bremen vs. VfB Stuttgart
Three-Way: 1: SV Werder Bremen +147; X: +266 Draw; 2: VfB Stuttgart +220 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread 0: SV Werder Bremen -132; VfB Stuttgart +127
Total +2.5: Over -127; Under +125
SV WERDER BREMEN
The Bremen team managed to record their first win of the season two weeks ago by decimating the Hannover 96 squad at home (4:0). Then they got a bit misfortunate as the visit to high-ranked RB Leipzig was scheduled (2:0 loss), robbing them of a chance to extend the positive streak but they’ll have that opportunity against one of the worse visiting teams this Saturday.
They are currently ranked below the relegation line at No. 17 spot in the Bundesliga table with eight points earned and a 1-5-7 record (1-1-4 at home). Their goal difference is 8-16 (5-9 at home) and 69% of their overall matches had under 2.5 goals in total. Team also failed to score in 67% of their home games while managing to concede at least one goal in both halves in 33% of those duels. Both teams scored in only 31% of their overall showdowns and the most common score at home was a 2:0 loss (occurred twice). Max Kruse tops the team in scoring with three goals while Fin Bartels has two so far. Bartels is also the team’s leading assister with two.
Justin Eilers (cruciate ligament) should be available at the beginning of the next year while Thomas Delaney’s (toe), Luca Caldirola’s (foot), Aron Johannsson’s (knee) and Michael Zetterer’s (wrist) status is unknown. Zlatko Junuzovic (muscle) is back in training.
VFB STUTTGART
Second consecutive road game for the worse visitor in the league so far is on the menu and it will be very interesting to see how the team is going to react after staying undefeated for the first time last weekend. Their opponents have not been very consistent at home, on the contrary, they’ve been struggling throughout the entire Bundesliga season at Wesser but a breakthrough came two weeks ago when they torpedoed another newcomer into the league, Hannover 96 team (4:0) and they might be on fire right now.
VfB Stuttgart squad ranks at No. 12 spot in the Bundesliga table with 17 points and 5-2-6 record (0-1-6 on the road). Their goal difference is 13-16 (4-14 away) and 54% of their overall matches had under 2.5 goals in total while 29% of their road games had over 3.5 goals in total. Both teams scored in 46% of their duels while the most common score on the road were 3:1 loss and 2:0 loss (both occurred twice). Chadrac Akolo is the team’s leading scorer with four goals while Daniel Ginczek and Simon Terodde scored two each so far. Dennis Aogo and Berkay Ozcan are the leading assisters with two each.
Dzemis Burnic (knee), Marcin Kaminski (ankle) and Carlos Mane (knee) are all listed as day to day while Daniel Ginczek’s (groin), Alexander Meyer’s (thigh) and Matthias Zimmermann’s (cruciate ligament) status is unknown. Chadrac Akolo (thigh) and Anastasios Donis (shoulder) are back in training.
SV Werder Bremen vs. VfB Stuttgart – Match Prediction
I think that the home team has the edge here but I’m still somehow reluctant to put that as my prime pick because Stuttgart squad also ended a long negative streak last weekend and they might have enough juice to snatch a draw here. Instead, my first pick here will be under 2.5 goals because I predict a very tough and slow-tempo kind of a game.
My pick: Under 2.5 goals (+125)
Schalke 04 vs. FC Koln
Three-Way: 1: Schalke 04 -192; X: +380 Draw; 2: FC Koln +800 at BetDSI Sportsbook
Spread -1: Schalke 04 -133; FC Koln +129
Total +2.5: Over -111; Under +120
SCHALKE 04
The Miners keep proving that they are the real deal this season as they are undefeated in last seven Bundesliga rounds. Inconsistency and the unreliability from the last season are the matter of past and the result is No. 3 spot in the league table after 13 rounds. Last week’s shootout at Signal Iduna Park revealed that Schalke 04 has enough juice to take on the strongest teams in Germany but it also revealed certain weaknesses. Still, they have enough space and time to improve having in mind that they play on only one front, unlike the main contenders from the upper part of the table.
The team is 7-3-3 so far (4-2-1 at home) and their goal difference is 20-14 (11-6 at home). They’ve managed to score at least one goal in each of their last seven matches while 69% of their overall duels had under 2.5 goals in total. The squad also concedes more goals in the first half (64%) while the most common score in front of their home crowd was 2:0 win (occurred three times) and 1:1 draw (occurred twice). They’ve managed to score at least one goal in both halves in 57% of their home showdowns while both teams scored in 38% of their games. Striker Guido Burgstaller tops the team in scoring with five goals while Leon Goretzka has four. Ukrainian midfielder Yehven Konoplyanka recorded team-high three assists so far.
Pablo Insua (heart) is expected to be back in action at the beginning of the next year while Daniel Caliguri’s (Illness), Thilo Kehrer’s (shoulder), Banil Bentaleb’s (hip) and Donis Avdijaj’s (ankle) status is unknown. Amine Harit (calf) should be back in few days while Luke Hemmerich (foot) is listed as day to day.
FC KOLN
I honestly don’t understand why is Peter Stoger still at the helm of FC Koln team. Horrible 0-2-11 record in Bundesliga with only 2 points earned after 13 rounds has brought to jeopardy the survival in the top-tier of German soccer and the window for turning the table is closing down as we have only four rounds before the end of the first part of the season. If they get eliminated in the UEFA Europa League which is a big possibility having in mind the fact that they have to record a victory in Belgrade next Thursday against Red Star, I think that his destiny will be sealed.
Team scores 0.31 goals and concedes 1.92 goals per game (4-25 goal difference) and they are 0-1-6 on the road. 75% of their goals scored came in second half and they’ve conceded an opening goal in 77% of their games. 57% of their visits had over 2.5 goals in total but only 14% of those duels had over 3.5 goals in total. Both teams scored in 31% of their games and the most common scores on the road were 2:1 loss and 1:0 loss (both occurred twice). Sehrou Guirassy, Dominique Heintz, Yuya Osako and Frederik Sorensen are the authors of four scored goals so far while Sorensen along with Jhon Cordoba, Tim Hardwerker and Simon Zoller have one assist each.
Jhon Cordoba (thigh), Dominc Maroh (thigh) and Marco Hoger (thigh) are expected to be ready in late December while Simon Zoller (thigh), Dominique Heintz (thigh), Marcel Risse (meniscus) and Jonas Hector (ankle) are out until January. Leonardo Bittencourt’s (groin), Sehrou Guirassy’s (foot), Matthias Lehmann’s (unknown) and Joao Queiros’ (back) status is unknown while Christian Clemens (groin) is back in training.
FC Schalke 04 vs. FC Koln –Match Prediction.
Large number of injures for the visiting team (12 – most in the league) and overall form of both teams makes this a no-brainer when it comes to the final winner and I would advise you to go on some kind of spread here. Over 2.5 goals in total is also a big possibility.
My pick: FC Schalke 04 AH -1.5 (-133)
Additional pick: Over 2.5 goals (-111)
