BUNDESLIGA fanatic Jonny O'Sullivan (@libero_the) has taken a deep dive into matchday eight from Germany, picking out his best bets.
The international break has finally finished and we can all look forward to another week of the biggest clubs in Europe getting back to business in their domestic leagues.
Of course, the international break brought the occasional good watch, but there is nothing quite like club football being back. The Bundesliga arguably has the best fixture list for us all to sink our teeth into this weekend.
Leverkusen are travelling to Frankfurt, Dortmund host Gladbach and in-form Wolfsburg face RB Leipzig, to name just a few of the enticing fixtures this weekend. The matches to be played cannot be matched both technically and competitively amongst rival leagues, unless you are a Liverpool fan preparing yourself to slaughter Manchester United, of course.
Borussia Dortmund v Borussia Monchengladbach | Saturday 19th October 2019, 17:30 | BT Sport
The battle of the Borussia's looks set to be one of the games of the weekend across Europe. Dortmund are still as entertaining and exciting going forward as ever, but they are an accident waiting to happen at the back. With an astonishing three 2-2's in a row, Dortmund's recent games all have one common theme – a calamity at the back.
A quite remarkable last gasp Manuel Akanji own-goal was enough for Freiburg to snatch a point off the title contenders a fortnight ago. This was Dortmund's 11th goal they have conceded so far this season and this is simply not good enough for a team who bought the likes of Mats Hummels to make their naive defence of last campaign more solid.
Although BVB are the second-highest scorers in the division with an impressive 19, one behind Bayern's 20, their inability to keep a clean sheet has and will undoubtedly be their downfall this year.
What is worse for Dortmund is that they face a Gladbach side on-fire. Any casual fan of FIFA 20 who may not be aware of what happens each week in Germany will be able to vouch for this as the table-topping Gladbach consistently has a striker in their Team of the Week due to the form many individuals find themselves in. Their latest match against Augsburg was as impressive as it gets as they lead 4-0 at half time, completely blowing away their opponents.
It was a common story across Germany to doubt life after Thorgan Hazard this summer, after he left for Dortmund. However, Breel Embolo's re-emergence into the spotlight, Marcus Thuram loving life away from the pressure of France and Alassane Plea and Patrick Hermann looking unstoppable has resulted in The Foals being one of the most explosive and interesting teams to watch across the continent.
Since Gladbach got put to the sword against Leipzig they have been scoring goals for fun and it will be exciting to see them face a Dortmund side struggling to keep the ball out of their own net.
Each of Dortmund's matches this season in the league has landed the Over 3.5 Goals (97/100 Marathon) pick, and they have been facing teams with a lot less in attack than Gladbach can offer, hence the reason behind the prediction that the Yellow Wall will be witnessing a goal-fest on Saturday evening
RB Leipzig v Wolfsburg | Saturday 19th October 2019, 14:30
Wolfsburg are travelling to Leipzig remarkably second in the league and the only side in the top-flight who remain unbeaten.
What is most remarkable about this is that it could be that Wolfsburg are not actually playing that well. They are scraping together their positive form via conceding just 0.57 goals per-game and have managed to shut out their opposition a decent three times this season. With a striker in the shape of Wout Weghorst absolutely flying with four goals and two assists, the Wolves are in a good position right now.
However, they are facing a very good side in RB Leipzig. Although Leipzig have not managed to keep a home clean sheet, they will be confident that they can be the more offensive side in this tie. With Timo Werner leading the attack accompanied by the underrated Yussef Poulsen, Leipzig have enough firepower to worry any side in the league.
Wolfsburg have not faced a side who finished in the top five last season, therefore this will be their first major test of the season. Although it would not be a game which you would expect to see a nine-goal thriller, there is definitely a good chance that Wolfsburg can snatch a goal against a side who have failed to grab a win in their last three matches, in all competitions.
Eight out of 10 of Wolfsburg's matches in all competitions have seen Both Teams to Score (7/10 Bet365) land, with the score of 1-1 being a common theme, having landed six times. Six out of Leipzig's last eight games have seen both sides score, therefore stats lean towards a positive outcome for those having a punt.
If you placed the two selections as a double it will hopefully land at slightly over 2/1 at SkyBet. This is a very healthy price for two games which consist of teams who have the capabilities to score lots of goals.
Best Bets
Borussia Dortmund v Borussia Monchengladbach – Over 3.5 Goals (97/100 Marathon)
RB Leipzig v Wolfsburg – Both Teams to Score (7/10 Bet365)
