The more experienced Bundesliga I team, Nurnberg, dominated the first playoff match against Augsburg, however they only won 1-0 thanks to a late goal scored by Christian Eigler’s header.

Bundesliga I playoff match Round 2

Augsburg vs Nurnberg
Tursday 16/05/10 - Kick off at 18.00 CET
The more experienced Bundesliga I team, Nurnberg, dominated the first match, however they only won 1-0 thanks to a late goal scored by Christian Eigler’s header.
A penalty missed plus a number of chances wasted confirmed that Nurnberg has serious problems scoring this season (just 32 goals in 34 matches in the league), however Augsburg were only trying to defend and even after they conceded they threw in a defender in order not to concede a second.
This time Augsburg will have to attack and everyone is confident that they will be successful in front of their own fans, as their home field has been their greatest ally in this season’s Bundesliga II campaign.

The possible lineups are:
Augsburg: Jentzsch, Reinhardt, Möhrle, Buck, Hegeler, Bellinghausen, Traore, Baier, Brinkmann, Ndjeng, Thurk.
Nurnberg: Schäfer, Risse (or Nordtveit), Maroh, Wolf, Judt, Frantz, Ottl, Mintal, Bunjaku, Eigler, Choupo-Moting

It looks like another 4-5-1 formation for Augsburg, however we may see Sandor Torghelle in the field as well and that will make it an attacking 4-4-2.
Nurnberg will play in their usual 4-5-1 formation, but with Ottl, Mintal and Eigler in midfield they will certainly have their chances at goal either on counter-attack or from set pieces. Swiss international Daniel Gygax will leave Nurnberg after two years of presence (and not much more) there, but everyone is focused on this single, last and most important match of the season.

I have written many times that Augsburg are usually a different team when playing at home, however playing against a Bundesliga I side like Nurnberg is also a completely different story, so I am expecting the visitors to play more defensively than 3 days ago and I don’t thing Augsburg have the quality to break their defenses.

If history matters to you, the Bundesliga I teams have 8 wins in such play-out matches, while the Bundesliga II teams have only won 4 of them (with Nurnberg being the only Bundesliga II team to achieve promotion via playoffs, last season).

Betting Suggestion:Under 2.5 goals (1.75 at bwin) or One of the Teams NOT to Score - Both teams to score/No (2.00 at Expekt.com) may be some reasonable options, but I think there’s great value in Nurnberg’s Clean Sheet (3.30 at Expekt.com) and even correct score 0-0 (10.00 at sportingbet). Needless to say, I wouldn’t use high stakes on any bets here.
 

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Bundesliga II playoff match Round 1

Hansa Rostock vs Ingolstadt
Monday 17/05/10 - Kick off at 20.30 CET
It was a pretty boring 1st leg match between the two teams, with a very few chances for either team, but in the end it was Ingolstadt that got the extremely important 1-0 win and they have gained a slight advantage in the battle for a Bundesliga II spot.

I had stated a few days ago that Ingolstadt had beaten most of the 3rd division’s top teams at home this season, so it wasn’t a surprise at all that they beat Hansa.
Now I must state that Ingolstadt have lost most of their away games against the top half of the table when playing away from home. Six of their eight away defeats were against the eight teams that finished between 1st and 9th place (not counting Ingolstadt).

Hansa Rostock have had some very bad results lately, despite not playing as badly.
They have lost 4 of their last 6 matches and failed to beat Cottbus at home. However, they have shown that they are a very strong team at home, where most of their wins were against mid-table opponents. I am expecting this match to be somewhat similar to that between Nurnberg and Augsburg in the 1st leg. Hansa will be attacking from the beginning of the match, Ingolstadt will try to defend, something they hardly had to do in the 1st leg, however I can’t be 100% sure that Hansa will win it after seeing all the chances they have been wasting lately, as well as some problems in defence.

Their clash last season in the Bundesliga II ended in a 1-1 draw (Ingolstadt had won the first round match by 4-2), however things are a bit different now and Hansa will push very hard for the win, which I believe they should get, one way or the other.

Betting Suggestion:Home win (currently at 1.80 at sportingbet, but many firms haven’t published their odds yet)

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