BUNDESLIGA fanatic Jonny O'Sullivan (@libero_the) has taken a deep dive into Matchday 25 from Germany, picking out his best bets.
It was a Bundesliga matchday that will not be remembered for footballing reasons. Offensive banners during Bayern Munich’s match at Hoffenheim forced the game to be suspended and when play was resumed the players opted to see the contest out in a non-competitive nature.
On the football pitch, it was pretty much more of the same. Bayern are looking unbeatable at present and Dortmund managed to win ugly, which is quite rare in recent times. Gladbach collected a 3-2 triumph away to keep themselves in the hunt for title glory, whilst Leverkusen and Leipzig drew 1-1 in an entertaining clash.
Koln continued their incredible form with an emphatic 3-0 win at home to Schalke. In their last 10 matches, only Bayern and Dortmund have picked up more points than Marcus Gisdol's Billy Goats.
Werder Bremen managed to avoid defeat again via Frankfurt's match being postponed due to the Europa League match being delayed due to high winds on the Thursday. Bremen have only one win in their last 10 and are really looking doomed towards the bottom of the table.
Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen | Saturday 7th March 2020, 14:30
Hertha Berlin have recently finished their brief and sordid affair with Californian heartthrob Jurgen Klinsmann. Things have been hit and miss since the two went their separate ways. An impressive away win against Paderborn was followed by a horrific 5-0 loss against Koln.
However, this all may change after last weekend’s result. Die Alte Dame were 3-0 down away to Fortuna Dusseldorf at the halfway point of the match. All seemed lost but Hertha showed impressive character to achieve a 3-3 draw. New signings, Piatek and Cunha, both scored which will have resulted in a massive boost ahead of this weekend’s fixture.
Hertha could not have picked a better team to face this weekend – Werder Bremen. Bremen for a side who have a lot of talented players, appear mostly useless right now. Dortmund, Leipzig, Union Berlin, and Mainz, just to name a few, have comfortably brushed Werder aside in recent matches and I expect Hertha to join this long list of clubs.
Hertha are not in great form right now and have only managed one goal in their last five home games, but this should not put you off. Bremen have scored the fewest goals in the league and have conceded the most. When you combine the two statistics together, it never makes for pleasant reading.
Another fancy of mine here is Hertha to win the match and there to be Under 2.5 Goals in the match. This is valued at 9/4 at Bet365 and both sides have not been scoring many goals recently.
Borussia Monchengladbach v Borussia Dortmund | Saturday 7th March 2020, 17:30 | BT Sport
The battle of Borussia's is no doubt the game of the weekend in Germany.
Two teams who play riveting football and who both share exciting young prospects in Europe, never mind just the Bundesliga. Names like Haaland, Sancho, Reyna, Thuram, Embolo and Neuhaus should all be names that will be engraved in the memory of all football fans in the next few years.
It is a massive game for Gladbach, and they have everything to gain as they could leapfrog Dortmund with a win. They also possess impressing form when they play in front of their home faithful. To be unbeaten in nine matches is mightily impressive in a league as competitive as the Bundesliga.
With an astonishing 26 points gained out of a possible 33 overall here, Gladbach will be confident that they can hurt a Dortmund side who have shown that they can be susceptible at the back.
In recent weeks, Dortmund have scored two or more goals against an impressive group of teams. PSG, Leverkusen and Frankfurt have all conceded two or more in the past few weeks against Haaland and company. This makes it such an exciting game to watch as Dortmund have scored the second most amount of goals in the league, whilst also conceding the second-most in the top seven.
Dortmund have managed to get on the scoresheet in their last 13 Bundesliga game and are averaging just under three goals per-game. In fact, they have scored two or more goals in 11 of their last 13 league matches. To add to this statistic, Gladbach have scored in every single home game in the league this season, which would suggest that both teams to score would be the minimum that would be expected on Saturday evening.
As an outside bet on the correct score for 2-2 is priced at around 11/1 at Bet365. Given the statistics and form of both teams, this seems a likely score but Over 3.5 Goals is my preferred play at 13/10 (BetVictor).
Best Bets
Hertha Berlin v Werder Bremen – Hertha Berlin to win (23/20 Coral)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Borussia Dortmund – Over 3.5 Goals (13/10 BetVictor)
