Alan McInally: Bundesliga football betting tips, preview and insight from former Bayern Munich striker
Former Bayern Munich and Scotland striker Alan McInally gives his Bundesliga tips and insight and previews the weekend's action.
I think the stand-out teams have been as we expected. Bayern have come back flying, they had a real test against Dortmund but came through it thanks to young Joshua Kimmich. RB Leipzig have been scoring loads of goals, like we know they always do, and it's now a great race between them, Leverkusen and Gladbach just behind. It's even great looking just beyond those three, with it now a fight between Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim for that sixth place.
At the bottom, I've been a little bit disappointed by Uwe Rosler's Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Yes they beat Schalke but since then they've been thrashed by Bayern. I think Paderborn are gone, Werder Bremen’s little show in the last couple of weeks I don’t see being anything more than a flash in the pan. Union Berlin and Mainz might just have enough to survive so I think it’s a shootout between Dusseldorf and Bremen for that second-bottom place.
'Man United should bust a gut to get Werner'
In terms of players, I’ve got to say Kai Havertz at Leverkusen has been just brilliant. He’s only 20, is 6ft 4in tall and has reached 35 Bundesliga goals before even reaching his 21st birthday. This weekend against Bayern might be a little bit of a rehearsal for him to maybe think he might end up there, even though Leverkusen legend Michael Ballack’s pleading with him not to leave just yet.
The two boys up top at Gladbach, Marcus Thuram and Alassane Plea, can’t stop scoring goals either. Plea has double figures for both goals and assists - only Lionel Messi, Jadon Sancho and Serge Gnabry in the whole of Europe have done that as well, which is some stat.
Timo Werner was already linked with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool before the Bundesliga restarted, and he's really versatile, being able to play up top and in a free role behind. I think Manchester United should be busting a gut to get him out of Leipzig, or to sign Havertz - at 20 though, is he too young to come over just yet? Maybe.
Those two are the main protagonists in terms of strikers for me. There are another few as well, like Wout Weghorst at Wolfsburg, Kevin Volland at Leverkusen and the two at Gladbach, but in terms of coming to the Premier League I think you're looking at Werner and Havertz.
Of course there's Erling Haaland but I would doubt anyone can get him out of Dortmund.
Overall, the Bundesliga has held up well, it's just been weird getting used to there being no fans.
Friday predictions
I said originally that Freiburg were a good side in a false position but they really have had a stinker of a start since the league got going again, with two draws and two defeats. They've just not been good enough.
Gladbach have been really, really good. They’ve got goals in them, a little bit like RB Leipzig just not as prominent, and they were excellent against Union with Marcus Thuram getting a couple of goals.
They need to keep the pressure on Leipzig in third place and I expect them to win and score a few. Freiburg haven’t managed to keep that defensive solidity that they had before the break.
Saturday predictions
It’s going to be a super game. You could say it’s Bayern’s last big test but really they’ve already passed that test by beating Dortmund and getting seven points clear.
It’ll be great to see Kai Havertz against them, who no surprise was the man to score again for Leverkusen in their win last weekend. He’ll want to show how good he is against the likes of Jerome Boateng, Benjamin Pavard and Alphonso Davies.
The problem for Leverkusen is how do you stop Bayern scoring? Robert Lewandowski to score, maybe a couple, has to be a good bet. I do think it'll be tight though and Leverkusen would bite your hand off for a point.
The really big odds for both home win and the draw, for a team that is fourth, shows just how good Bayern are at the moment, I’m with them all day long. I just want to see Havertz play well and also to see him end up at the Allianz Arena next season too.
Sky Bet: Lewandowski 9/4 to score 2+ goals
There’s only 20 or 30 miles between Frankfurt and Mainz so this is a bit of a derby. Mainz were unlucky last week, and Frankfurt had a great result against Wolfsburg in what was a really, really tight game.
I hate to sit on the fence but I’m going to go for the draw and probably my bet of the weekend of more than 2.5 goals in the game. There really won’t be a lot in this one.
Sky Bet: Over 2.5 goals at 4/7
I suppose sometimes you’re better off being a lucky team than a good one because Mainz were hitting the post, and Hoffenheim missed a penalty but they still managed to win last week. Dusseldorf manager Uwe Rosler just quickly moved on from their game as you would, saying they were totally outplayed by Bayern, who thrashed them. But the reason they’re in the position they are is their inability to score, summed up by that goalless draw with Paderborn in the first week back when they dominated them.
Dusseldorf will need to be so much better than they were against Bayern and I can’t see them making a big enough improvement. I expect Hoffenheim to win and keep up the pressure on Wolfsburg in the battle for sixth.
What price do you want Paderborn?! Apart from Timo Werner, RB Leipzig have a bunch of superb players and always look like a team that will score more than they concede. Paderborn are gone, they’ve done okay in games but they don’t seem to have a goal in them and the best they’ve done is that 0-0 against Dusseldorf on the first weekend back.
I just cannot see it be anything other than a very easy win and the biggest result of the weekend.
Hertha have been absolutely brilliant haven’t they, under my old team-mate Bruno Labbadia. A great result against Augsburg, even though it took until the last minute to put them away, kept up their form but Dortmund is a different kettle of fish with all of the players they have.
They're another team that cannot stop scoring. Everyone is talking about Jadon Sancho and his third goal last week tells me all I need to know about him. Without being sensational, he had the defenders breathing down his neck so he took one touch with his right foot and put it in with his left.
Hertha might set up to frustrate and I wouldn't be surprised to see Bruno put an extra defensive midfielder in there. Dortmund will win but I think it’ll be as difficult an opponent as they’ve had since the restart. I can't see Hertha being able to stop them scoring.
Sunday predictions
Werder Bremen were just so poor in midweek and Frankfurt deserved to beat them easily. Wolfsburg score loads of goals from set pieces and Werder can’t defend them, so I think it's going to be another heavy defeat. Basically, take your pick as to how many you think Wolfsburg will get.
Schalke have been just shocking recently and are on an awful run, which makes this game so important. I can’t understand why, with the players they have, they score so few goals. I’m fed up of seeing them get into good positions before turning back and trying to make that extra pass to try and score the perfect goal. They have to get the ball in the box and be far more ruthless. Union have been okay and I think they’ll have just enough to get out of trouble.
If you gave me a free bet I’d give you it back - I really can't call how this will go. The way Schalke have been going and the pressure that’s on them that they've been dragged down into following that defeat against Werder, I can’t go against Union Berlin.
I can see David Wagner’s head absolutely thumping on Sunday night after yet another defeat.
Augsburg have been ok and no more than ok, although they do have a little bit of breathing space on the relegation places. I do think Koln will go there and turn them over, especially having got those two goals against Leipzig - they will just create more chances.
Odds correct as of 1515 BST on 04/06/20
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