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betting » Previews » Matchday 12 - Fighting For Top Spot

Matchday 12 - Fighting for Top Spot

By Joe, BettingExpert.com | Edited

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Gomez Bayern

Celebrations with midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger might have to wait a bit when Mario Gomez scores his next few goals, as the German international is out for a few weeks and won't be travel to Augsburg on Sunday. Hannover 96 will host Schalke 04 earlier on the day while defending champion, Dortmund is to take on Wolfsburg on Saturday.

 

 

Dortmund vs. Wolfsburg

Third in the league and five points behind the league leaders, Bayern, in the Bundesliga and many of the Dortmund will be asking their team once again to find the winning formula that they had last season. Last weekend’s 1-1 away draw to Stuttgart was followed up with a midweek 1-0 Champions League win over Olympiakos at home to keep their European campaign alive. The early strike from Kevin Grosskreutz did the trick and this key moment should earn him a start position this Saturday against Wolfsburg. Both Shinji Kagawa and Lucas Barrios started on the bench in the midweek and wouldn’t head coach Jurgen Klopp get the fresh legs to power their way through the Wolfsburg defense. Midfelder Mario Gotze reminds the vital playmarker while the polish duo Blaszczykowski and Leandowski could make an impact.

Wolfsburg are in the bottom half of the Bundesliga and four points off the relegation zone. They are hoping to make things better in time for the winter break and if they want that to happen then a point is a must in Dortmund. Their recent form has suggested that this could be a impossible mission as a 1-1 draw away to Hamburg and a home 3-2 defeat to Hertha Berlin has push back their morale. Conceding a goal just after scoring one must have being a big blow but more importantly, the concentration level drops quickly and that is a huge physiological blow for this team, as this needs to be over come this Saturday.

 

Verdict: Raise of the Champions, Dortmund to find some happy endings at home.

 

Obscure stat - Over the last 6 seasons, when a team in the top 6 of the table has played at home against a club positioned 11th to 13th on the table, the match has finished with over 2.5 goals 58% of the time over 79 matches.

 

 

Hannover 96 vs. Schalke 04

Both teams have been in European duties this midweek, both found different fates at the end of the night. Hannover took full advantage in Copenhagen with a 2-1 win after going behind 1-0. That showed character and taking them into a good position to secure a place in the next round. In the Bundesliga, Hannover is in the mid table fighting to get back to the top of the Bundesliga after a bit dip of form losing two consecutive games in the league and the cup, most noticeably is the defeat to Mochengladbach away last weekend. Scoring twice in three minutes, both Lars Stindl and Jan Schlaudraff should be part of the starting lineup on Sunday with the likes of Abdellaoui and Pinto giving the nod too.

Schalke 04 in Europe struggled in the midweek with a 0-0 draw against AEK Larnaca but they didn’t put their strongest eleven. Maybe that is because they think that the Bundesliga might be a priority and when they are sitting second in the Bundesliga just 4 points behind Bayern. This is a must win match considering that Metzelder, Sarpei and Farfan were on the bench and Raul wasn’t even in the squad the midweek. That must be a sign that Schalke 04 will travel to Hanover in search for all three points after the lack of personnel to win the games in the midweek.

 

Verdict: Schalke 04 to pull off the sixth consecutive wins away from home

 

Obscure stat - Over the last 6 seasons, when clubs playing at home on a 3 game home winning streak have played against a club positioned in the top 6, they are 10-5-5

 

 

FC Augsburg vs. Bayern Munich

Last game this weekend and Bayern is to travel to Augsburg in search for all the three points to keep or further their lead in the Bundesliga. It will be a challenge for Augsburg to stop the big red and white strip train going through their town. The three points up for grabs might help the home team a bit more than the league leader as they are at the bit of the league, ok, second bottom with 8 points, one more than SC Freiburg, but the relegation strugglers need some bright sparks in their game. It didn’t come against Cologne as they were defeat 3-0 last weekend which doesn’t make give much morale boosting. But having said that, Augsburg did managed a 1-1 draw in their last home game against Werder Bremen so with that hope in mind, there could be some hope this Sunday.

Bayern took the good form from the Bundesliga into the midweek 3-2 win over Napoli in the Champions League leaving them topping their group. Topping their Champions League also throw a bit of a plus when they are also topping the Bundesliga too with four points from the nearest rivals. They travel to Augsburg with sight to see their four consecutive wins in all competition but they will have to do without influential midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger after breaking his collarbone in the champions league. He will be out for at least six weeks but with the good form Mario Gomez is experiencing, they might not miss him that much, like Arjen Robben who is also doubtful for this tie.

 

Verdict: Bayern will make progress and a win should give them confidence without key players.

 

Obscure stat - When clubs in the bottom 3 of the table have hosted the team on top of the league the last 6 seasons, they are 5-3-6.



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betting » Previews » Matchday 12 - Fighting For Top Spot