Leverkusen are in a race to reach the top of the table before their primary opponents, such as Bayern, Werder Hamburger and Schalke and at the moment they are above all of them, just 6 points away from leaders Mainz.

Saturday 23th October 2010

15:30 CET
Gladbach vs Werder Bremen
After 4 matches the hosts are still left with no victory in front of their own fans.
Last week they were leading at halftime against Hoffenheim but 2 red cards (one resulting in a penalty) and an own goal lead to their defeat by 3-2. With just 6 points from 8 matches and only Koln below them from the weaker teams, they really have to try and get whatever they can pointswise from this match.
Werder Bremen seemed to benefit from the short break, as they managed to beat Freiburg at home last week by 2-1. Not an impressive result at all, but they did convince us that they can handle the weaker teams when they try hard, since they responded quite well to Schuster’s equalizer early into the second half.
They had to travel to Netherlands midweek as they faced Twente for the Champions League. They managed to grab a point, but that’s only good for third place, as Tottenham and Inter seem more likely to take the top spots.
Both teams score and concede many goals and this is our favorite bet when it comes to matches involving Werder Bremen.

• Over 2.5 goals, 1.53 at bet365.com.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Schalke
This may come as a surprise to many of you but Frankfurt have collected 12 points already while Schalke are still stuck in the danger zone with just 5 points!
The hosts are on a roll! They had won 2 matches in a row before the break and last week they extended their winning streak by beating Kaiserslautern away from home by 3-0! However, at home they have lost 2 out of 3 matches so far, both due to goals conceded during the final moments. And Schalke are quite fond of scoring late goals.
So far they’ve done it against Hannover, Dortmund, Freiburg, Gladbach and Stuttgart.
Another quite interesting fact about Schalke is that they ‘ve only scored 2 goals during the first half out of a total of 10 goals. So to those of you considering the away win, I would recommend that you watch this game and place your stakes during halftime if the occurring score helps the situation.
Frankfurt will probably not end this season with more defeats at home than wins, plus Schalke had to play a mindweek match for the Champions League this week so I will probably avoid this.

• Halftime/Fulltime: Draw/Schalke, 6.25 at bwin.com or Frankfurt/Draw, 15.00 at Betsson.com

Nurnberg vs Wolfsburg
The hosts couldn’t hold on to the result they were looking for against St.Pauli last week and lost by 3-2. However, they have managed to cope quite well with a very difficult schedule so far and they are above the danger zone with 9 points in their account. They’ve won 2 out of 3 matches at home and they will be pushing hard for the win in every home game since it’s their main source for points.
Wolfsburg have just 1 point more than Nurnberg. Last week they lost at home to Leverkusen by an extraordinary comeback during the second half. After 72 minutes the scoreline was reading 2-0 in Wolfsburg’s favor and just 10 minutes later it read 2-3 for Leverkusen. That defeat will have certainly affected the squad’s morale and Nurnberg, also an enthusiastic squad, will be looking to take make the most of it.
I would opt for the home win, but I will remain faithful to my favorite bet on matches involving Wolfsburg.

• Over 2.5 goals, 1.68 at bet365.com

Hannover vs FC Koln
Hannover may have lost 3-0 to Bayern last weekend, but they . A defensive side, Koln will be no easy task, but the hosts will be boosted by the return of Mohamed Abdellaoue. Besides, they are always stronger when playing at home and Koln seem to be unable to repeat last season’s miracle away record.
Last week, just when it appeared that they had earned a point, Koln were beaten by Dortmund by a goal conceded in added time. The visitors have played much better than is suggested by their record of 5 points from 8 matches. Lucas Podolski seems to have found himself again in this squad, since he is the manager’s priority in offence.
This is a match harder to predict than the numbers suggest, but I do like the odds on the home win.

• Home Win, 2.10 at bwin.com.

Freiburg vs Kaiserslautern
The interesting fact here is that the hosts are one of the two mid-table teams with no draws so far (the other team is Frankfurt but their matches generally don’t produce many draws). Such a result would actually favor the hosts today, since they have a 5-point lead over Kaiserslautern and their main concern is to secure their presence in the Bundesliga next season as soon as possible.
On the other hand, Kaiserslautern seem to be going from good to bad to worse. After starting the season with 2 victories, they collected just 1 point from the last 6 games and they’ve lost the latest 4 with a disappointing 1-11 goal average. Of course, they did face a couple of strong teams, but defeats at home from Hannover and Frankfurt have left the squad wandering if they can in fact avoid relegation. They certainly will try their best, but Freiburg’s Cisse will oppose a major threat to their defences.

• Home win, 2.25 at bet365.com.

Sunday 24th October 2010

15:30 CET

Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim
As of last weekend, Dortmund are the Bundesliga leaders. Thanks to a goal scored by Sahin in added time, they beat Koln away from home by 2-1 and climbed to the top spot tied with Mainz, but with better goal average. The hosts are on top form, as they have won 7 matches in a row, scoring 20 goals and conceding only 4. They are the highest scoring team and at the same time they have conceded less goals than any other squad. Still, at Dortmund they don’t speak out loud about winning the title. They are a young team with very little quality on the bench, so in a race as long as the Bundesliga any setback, for example a Sahin or Barrios injury, could be decisive. Hoffenheim are still over-performing as usual, during the start of the season. They are currently in 4th place, with 14 points. They’ve only lost 1 match out of 4 played away from home. Last season Dortmund beat Hoffenheim away from home during the first round, but during the closing stages of the season, when they really needed the points, they failed to beat them at home in a match they missed too many chances in front of goal and were betrayed by their defensive line a few minutes before time.
Dortmund had to play a Thursday night match at home against PSZ for the Europa League. The match ended in a tie.

• Home win, 1.75 at bet365.com.

17:30 CET

Bayer Leverkusen vs Mainz
The hosts are in a race to reach the top of the table before their primary opponents, such as Bayern, Werder Hamburger and Schalke and at the moment they are above all of them, just 6 points away from Mainz and the top spot. The only factor that’s been keeping them from leading the scoreboard is their poor performances at home. Gladbach gave them a 6-goal defeat to remember, while Nurnberg escaped with a clean sheet. The latter is something that can’t be ignored, since Mainz are one of the tightest teams in defence. Leverkusen just faced another defensive team this Thursday, Aris in Greece and the result was once again 0-0.
On the other hand, Mainz tried to achieve the impossible, set a new record winning streak during the start of the season, but Hamburger’s Guerrero messed up their plans with his winner just a few seconds before normal time expired. This was the first match this season that Mainz didn’t score, but this match is a different story, since they will primarily focus on defending their goal and striking in counter attack, a play that’s proven extremely efficient so far.

• No bet.

Stuttgart vs St Pauli
The hosts are still at the very bottom of the table, with just 4 points from 8 matches. They started the season with 3 defeats in a row, then they crushed Gladbach by 7-0, but again they lost the following 3 matches before coming close to beating Schalke away from home only to give away a penalty just 10 minutes before the end which resulted in a draw. This Thursday they beat Getafe at home for the Europa League group stage, so the players will be confident that they can beat St.Pauli as well.
The visitors are off to a great start, with 13 points collected already and more surprisingly 9 of those coming from away games. Having conceded only 3 goals in 4 matches away from home, makes them the best away defence so far. However, so far they have had an easy schedule. During the following weeks, until the winter break, they will have to face the best teams in the league, so we could soon be seeing them near the bottom of the table. I believe Stuttgart will win this clash, but I wouldn’t risk blowing my wallet on this bet.

• Home win, 1.70 at bwin.com.