Bundesliga: Tight tussle as table-topping Foals welcome Frankfurt

BUNDESLIGA fanatic Jonny O'Sullivan (@libero_the) has taken a deep dive into matchday nine from Germany, picking out his best bets.

There is no doubt about it, the Bundesliga is currently the most entertaining league in Europe. With nine teams separated by an astonishing two points at the top of the table, it appears that the years of Bayern Munich's uncontested title wins are a thing of the past – for now…

What is making the league so thrilling is the top teams not being able to beat the so-called lesser teams in the division, such as Bayern’s dreadful result last weekend against Augsburg. In a sign that the league is scarily competitive, out of the nine clubs in the top places of the league, only Dortmund and Frankfurt managed to grab all three points last weekend.

Bayer Leverkusen v Werder Bremen | Saturday 26th October 2019, 17:30

Bayer Leverkusen continue to be one of the most entertaining teams in the league to watch. They do not maintain the silky combinations that Kai Havertz and Julian Brandt produced, especially towards the latter period of last season. However, what they do have is a frightfully high line which is easily exposed by the simplest of passes.

This is the Peter Bosz way of playing as he is a manager who completely disregards the art of defending in the hope his side can out-football any rival in front of them. With only three clean sheets in 12 games this season, Leverkusen are struggling at the back and are fortunate that the league is so tight, otherwise they would be out of European contention.

Werder Bremen are actually even worse at the back. Without a single clean sheet to their name, Bremen have only conceded fewer goals than the three bottom sides in the league. With an average of 2.14 goals conceded, Werder will not be banking on solidity for them to achieve any points on the road this weekend.

Both sides are also in decent goalscoring form. Leverkusen have scored in all but one of their last 14 home games, whilst Bremen have scored two goals in each of their away games this season, scoring an impressing eight goals.

With two defences so horrific and the decent attacking ability on offer to both clubs, goals should be flying in from all angles. Last season produced scorelines of 2-6 and 1-3, and both sides were more solid in defence when those fixtures were played.

Over 3.5 Goals is 6/5 (Betfair).

Borussia Monchengladbach v Eintracht Frankfurt | Saturday 26th October 2019, 17:30

League leaders Borussia Monchengladbach host eighth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt in Sunday's late kick-off in a game which would see the visitors go above their opponents with a win.

Gladbach are playing the best football in Germany right now. Despite a loss last time out to Dortmund, they remained at the summit of the Bundesliga. With an attack that is on fire, it seems hard to imagine any time being able to live with the Foals – they arguably deserved more against Dortmund and will be hungry to make up for lost points.

Frankfurt are simply doing fantastic this season. A season of misery was predicted after losing Sebastian Haller, Luka Jovic and Ante Rebic in the summer but the emergence of Goncalo Paciencia and the encouraging form of Bas Dost and Andre Silva have resulted in Eintracht being just as dangerous going forward.

Marco Rose has also done a terrific job with Gladbach. They play beautiful football with a lot of pace and aggression in attack. The likes of Alessane Plea, Breel Embolo, Marcus Thuram and Patrick Hermann bring with them a dynamism that few teams can match.

Just like their opponents, the loss of a key player in Thorgan Hazard lead to several question marks on whether Gladbach's season would be a positive one, but them doubts seem like an eternity ago.

With two sides brimming with confidence, it would be no surprise to see an even contest resulting in a draw. The last team the two sides met it ended with a 1-1 draw, whilst five out of the last 10 games have also lead to each side settling for a point.

It is quite common when both sides face each other at the top end of the table in good form it can result in both sides playing with a little bit of added pressure than usual, resulting in both sides coming up slightly short of earning all three points.