BAYERN MUNICH host Schalke in Friday night's curtain-raiser from the Bundesliga. Jack Wright (@JackWright_BSB) is on-hand to preview his favourite fancies.
Bayern Munich vs Schalke | Friday 18th September 2020, 19:30 | BT Sport
Almost before we could notice it had gone the Bundesliga is back. The league, which was first to return following lockdown, providing action galore kicks-off with last season’s domestic double winners and newly crowned champions of Europe, Bayern Munich hosting Schalke.
It would be hard to find two more contrasting sides to meet at the Allianz Arena, highlighted by the fact Hansi Flick’s side are as short as 1/12 to claim all three points as they have done in seven of the last eight opening days in Germany’s top-flight. So how do we get FC Hollywood onside whilst getting a reasonable return for our stake?
David Wagner’s visitors have been in freefall for what feels like forever, but the fact is it’s a 16-game Bundesliga winless streak stretching back to 17th January during which time the Royal Blues have scored just seven goals.
Schalke's away form is, as you would expect, is also awful, picking up just four points (all draws) from their last 11 road trips and managing to lose both halves in four of those including their last visit here where they trailed 2-0 at half time before conceding three further goals after the restart, in a resounding 5-0 defeat.
That was one of three occasions the sides met last season, as they also faced-off in the DFB Pokal quarter finals, with the Bavarians scoring a total of nine unanswered goals across that trio of games.
The hosts boasted the best home league record last season (W13-D2-L2), are unbeaten in their last 10 in their own stadium winning nine, another victory here would mean a 14th consecutive Bundesliga win and stretch their total unbeaten league run to 21 of which they have only drawn one. An incredible record.
Unstoppable Lewy
Talking of incredible records – let’s talk about the season Robert Lewandowski had with 34 league goals coming from just 31 matches played at an outstanding average of one goal every 81 minutes, added to that he struck six goals in five DFB Pokal ties and 15 Champions League goals from 10 outings.
In home league games the Polish international has an even better record with his 19 goals coming along at an unbelievable one every 70 minutes! He didn’t do too bad in the two league games against tonight’s opponents either – scoring all three in the 3-0 away win and opening the scoring in the aforementioned 5-0 rout.
So, I am putting those stats together to come up with two odds-against pokes…
SkyBet are offering a Bayern win ‘to nil' at 1/1 however a Bayern win and Both Teams To Score ‘No’ is 11/10 – a reminder that’s a bet that landed three times out of three when these two sides met last season.
Using Bet 365’s BetBuilder we can select Bayern Munich to Win Both Halves, as they did in both league games last season, adding Robert Lewandowski to score at Anytime, as he did in both league games last season, to come up with odds of 21/20.
For those of you interested in the props markets, I would urge you to head over to Boylesports where you can find some selected passing markets, in particular – David Alaba Over 90.5 at 7/10, Jerome Boateng Over 78.5 at 8/11 and Joshua Kimmich Over 81.5 at 4/6.
Alaba made 126 passes in this game last season, 111 (from left back) in the away game and 134 in the cup tie. In the same games Kimmich made 109, 91 and 164 – where he played as a centre back, Boateng only played in the home game last season and made 107 passes.
Bayern had 75% possession in this game last season, and we should expect much the same again and therefore similar passing statistics – making all three viable plays although we are unsure if Alaba or Boateng will start. The odds are a little short for me to list as official suggestions, however I would be stunned if those lines aren’t crossed by whichever of those players start.
Best Bets
Bayern Munich v Schalke – Bayern Munich to win and Both Teams To Score ‘No’ (11/10 SkyBet)
Bayern Munich v Schalke – Robert Lewandowski to score Anytime and Bayern Munich to Win Both Halves (21/20 Bet365)
