MARK O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) gave us two odds-against winners on the weekend Bundesliga action. Can he continue his good form on Tuesday night?
Bayern Munich v Schalke | Tuesday 19.00 | BT Sport 2
Runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich suffered a shock 4-1 defeat at Wolfsburg on Friday night to banish their hope and dreams of an unbeaten league season. The Bavarians were outfought, outmanoeuvred and outthought by Dieter Hecking’s men and you just get the feeling, that humbling hammering could have serious implications for a Schalke side visiting Munich on Tuesday night.
Wolfsburg entered that match as 11/2 outsiders and 9/5 to avoid defeat on home soil but they handed Bayern their first league loss since April. Pep Guardiola was understandably furious with his table-toppers and I fully expect the German champions to bite back at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern had conceded just four goals in their first 17 league outings before Friday’s slaughter but home comforts should work in their favour on Tuesday. Pep’s charges have conceded just once in eight on home turf, have won all nine of their Bundesliga games in their Bavarian home and even led at the interval in seven of those matches.
The hosts chances of a return to form are also boosted by the news Schalke’s star striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has been handed a six-match ban for his weekend red card against Hannover. Roberto Di Matteo's men will miss the Dutch master up top and although they’ve improved their defensive game under the Italian, they remain a fragile force when taking on their more illustrious hosts.
Di Matteo's overseen W7-D1-L3 of his 11 league games since taking charge with the Royal Blues climbing to fourth in the Bundesliga standings. They’ve kept five clean sheets during that run and yet to leak two goals or more in a league game under his tutelage. But Schalke have lost seven of their last eight against the current German champions, leaking at least four goals in four of those fixtures and have been beaten by at least two goals in their last five head-to-head.
Despite the improvement in their defensive make-up, I’m unconvinced the Royal Blues’ inferior complex against Bayern will be resolved just yet. It’s difficult to find ways of supporting Pep’s team at a backable price but I’m happy to give Sportingbet’s 27/20 that the home team score Over 1.5 Goals in the first-half. They’ve done in so in three four meetings at the Allianz Arena and in four of their nine home Bundesliga matches this season. With a potential backlash on the cards, I think it gives us a nice price to cheer on.
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg | Tuesday 19.00
This is the match I’ll be watching on Tuesday night (Bet365 offer live streaming on all Bundesliga games). Why? Because it’s got goals written all over it. Wolfsburg produced a breath-taking display to despatch Bayern Munich on Friday night and the Wolves have now won 10 of their last 13 Bundesliga games. Kevin de Bruyne was again instrumental and having eulogised about his ability for the past three seasons, I’m over the moon to see the Belgian finally getting the praise he deserves.
His visitors have now scored at least twice in nine of their last 11 matches and they’ll be confident of getting a few more on Tuesday night. Only the aforementioned Bayern have scored more league goals than the two sides on show in Frankfurt (Wolfsburg have 37, Frankfurt have 35) and I’ve two odds-against prices I want to explore for this showdown.
Eintracht are without right-back Timothy Chandler and their second-half collapse to Freiburg on Saturday was just another reminder that Thomas Schaaf's team need major surgery in their defensive organisation. They’re just abysmal at the back but a joy to watch going forward.
We can see the Eagles have now been involved in 12/15 matches that have produced three goals or more, scoring and conceded at least twice in six of their last seven at the Commerzbank-Arena. Their 18 Bundesliga matches this term have produced 12 Over 3.5 Goals winners too.
The two teams met in August and that fixture ended 2-2. It was just one of seven of Wolfsburg’s games to feature four or more goals and BetVictor’s offering of 6/5 for Over 3.5 Goals is most certainly a market I’ll be getting involved with. The visitors have seen 10 of their last 12 road trips produce at least three goals so there’s most definitely scope.
But I’m also going to have a small play on Coral’s 5/2 that Both Teams Score in the first-half. It’s proved a winner in 4/7 Wolfsburg’s league games including their last three on the road. And unsurprisingly it’s landed in 5/9 Frankfurt home fixtures.
Best Bets
Bayern Munich v Schalke – Bayern Munich to score Over 1.5 first-half goals (27/20 Sportingbet)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg – Over 3.5 Goals (6/5 BetVictor)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg – Both Teams To Score in the first-half (5/2 Coral)
Your View?
Is Mark spouting nonsense? Could Bobby Di Matteo's Schalke pile more misery on Bayern tonight?
Let us know your views and best bets for Tuesday's Bundesliga action in the comments box below.
