Dortmund to remain kings of the Ruhr
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke
Saturday 24 October, 17:30
Live on BT Sport and Betfair Live Video
There was something frustratingly familiar about Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 defeat at Lazio in the Champions League. Thomas Meunier was caught in possession in his own half for the first goal, and static defending at a set piece led to the second. BVB then squandered some glorious opportunities in front of goal, and although Erling Haaland produced a perfect impression of “Hot-Shot Hamish” (google it) to make it 2-1, Lazio went on to score a third and seal an important victory.
It’s therefore serendipitous for Dortmund that they have a chance to put things right so soon. The Revierderby is always a massive match, even though only 300 fans are expected to be allowed to attend this clash with Schalke. Dortmund smacked the Royal Blues 4-0 in this fixture just after the return from lockdown, and if anything, Schalke have gotten worse since then.
S04 are on a club-record 20-game winless run in the Bundesliga, and although there were marginal improvements in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Union Berlin, the bare truth is that Union should have won the game. The attitude was better, but there is still a painful lack of creativity, and apart from wayward genius Amine Harit there are very few players in the squad who can come up with something out of nothing.
With Suat Serdar and Mark Uth injured, and defender Ozan Kabak suspended, it’s tough to see Schalke getting anything here. Erling Haaland has scored 12 goals in 12 games for club and country this season, so I’ll include a goal from him in a Same Game Multi treble on the Sportsbook. You can back Dortmund to win, Dortmund to score at least two goals and Haaland to score at 1.76.
Leipzig and Hertha to put on a show
RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin
Saturday 24 October, 14:30
Live on Betfair Live Video
There could have been significant wailing and gnashing of teeth when RB Leipzig lost the services of star strikers Timo Werner and Patrik Schick. Werner went to Chelsea, and Leipzig weren’t prepared to part with the money required to turn Schick’s loan spell into a permanent switch. Instead, Julian Nagelsmann’s side has simply got on with it, and others have picked up the goalscoring slack.
Take this week, for instance. The goals in a 2-0 Bundesliga win at Augsburg came from a stunning Van Basten-esque volley from Yussuf Poulsen and a header from diminutive wing-back Angelino, who gleefully pointed out afterwards that he has scored two headers despite being just 1.71 metres tall. To reinforce what a threat he can be in front of goal, the Spaniard then struck twice in a 2-0 Champions League victory against Istanbul Basaksehir.
While Leipzig are finding lots of different ways to score goals, Hertha are finding many different ways to concede them. They have leaked an eye-watering 15 goals in just five competitive matches this term, and they have lost four of those games. That said, they have enough quality at the other end to score a goal or two. They put three goals past Bayern in a 4-3 defeat, and with players like Matheus Cunha, Dodi Lukebakio and Jhon Cordoba, they can pose a threat.
If you look at the eight meetings between these clubs in the Bundesliga, you see that six of them have featured at least four goals, so that’s the way I’m heading this weekend. I’ll back Over 3.5 Goals at 11/102.12.
Toothless Wolves might come unstuck
Wolfsburg v Arminia Bielefeld
Sunday 25 October, 14:30
Live on BT Sport and Betfair Live Video
Wolfsburg have started the season with four draws, and they have scored just two goals. They actually played quite well at Borussia Mönchengladbach in last weekend’s 1-1 draw, but they are too heavily reliant on Dutch striker Wout Weghorst when it comes to attacking output.
The Wolves’ lair isn’t exactly intimidating. They haven’t won at the Volkswagen Arena in the league since February, and they only secured four Bundesliga home wins in the whole of last season.
Arminia Bielefeld lost 4-1 to Bayern last week, but didn’t disgrace themselves, and they have been surprisingly competitive since winning promotion. They have drawn at Eintracht Frankfurt, and they were unlucky to lose at Werder Bremen, so I think they can grind out a result here.
Source: BetFair Tips
