Bundesliga Tips: Back hot-shot striker to sizzle again | OneFootball

German Bundesliga

The Eagles of Frankfurt have flown up to sixth in the Bundesliga

There are some stellar match-ups in the Bundesliga this weekend, and TV commentator Kevin Hatchard has picked out another trio of selections...

Listen to this week's Football...Only Bettor Podcast!

🔗 Spotify

Eagles can continue to soar

Eintracht Frankfurt v BochumSaturday 02 November, 14:30

These are testing times for Bochum. They escaped the drop last term by the narrowest of margins, winning the relegation playoff against Fortuna Düsseldorf by virtue of a penalty shoot-out. The Ruhr club paid the price for hastily ditching coach Thomas Letsch a few weeks before the end of the season, and the ramifications of that decision are still being felt.

Not only is the club looking for a new coach (Peter Zeidler was sacked recently after failing to win a single league game), but they are seeking a new sporting director. A raft of free transfers have failed to impress so far, and the squad was weakened by the summer departures of midfield duo Patrick Osterhage and Kevin Stöger.

Last weekend's 5-0 thrashing by Bayern was hardly a surprise, and now Bochum face an Eintracht Frankfurt side that has genuine momentum. Omar Marmoush is the league's joint-top scorer with nine goals, and the Egyptian scored the winner in Wednesday's 2-1 DFB Pokal success against Borussia Mönchengladbach. That win was all the more remarkable when you consider that SGE defender Arthur Theate was sent off after just 15 minutes.

Frankfurt are unbeaten at home this season, they have held both RB Leipzig and Bayern to draws, and they should be way too strong for Bochum here. I'll use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back Marmoush to score and Eintracht -1 on the Handicap, which gives us a combined price of 8/5.

Goals galore in Friday night spectacular

Bayer Leverkusen v Stuttgart Friday 01 November, 19:30Live on Sky Sports

Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart were the Bundesliga's top two last term, and they continue to strike sparks when they face each other. If you look at the last three meetings between the sides, you'll see that they played out a thrilling 2-2 draw at the BayArena in the league (Leverkusen equalised in the 96th minute), at the same venue Bayer won 3-2 in the DFB Pokal (Jonathan Tah scored a 90th-minute winner), and in the Supercup this season Bayer netted an 88th-minute leveller to force a penalty shoot-out (which they won).

Neither team is hitting the heights of last season, especially defensively. Bayer were particularly sloppy in last weekend's 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen, twice losing the lead, and they have now conceded 15 goals in just eight league matches. To put that into context, Bayer only conceded 24 goals in the whole Bundesliga season last term, as they ended the campaign unbeaten.

Bayer haven't managed a single clean sheet in the league this term, and nor have Stuttgart, who are currently a modest eighth in the top flight. Like Bayer, they have done fairly well in the Champions League, and in their last game they deservedly won 1-0 at Juventus.

While both sides are struggling defensively, their attacking units remain red-hot. Bayer have whacked in 20 goals in eight games in the league, while Stuttgart have netted 17. Victor Boniface has six league goals for Die Werkself, while VfB strike duo Ermedin Demirovic and Deniz Undav have five Bundesliga strikes apiece, and are covering well for the loss of star striker Serhou Guirassy to Borussia Dortmund.

I'm happy to back BTTS and Over 2.5 Goals here on the Bet Builder, but that's an odds-on bet, so I'll boost it to 11/10 by backing Undav to have a shot on target. He was rested for most of the midweek win over Nürnberg in the DFB Pokal, and the German international is flying for club and country. Undav has managed a shot on target in 13 of his last 16 games for Stuttgart and Germany.

Sliding Sahin set for another setback

Borussia Dortmund v RB LeipzigSaturday 02 November, 17:30Live on Sky Sports

Appointing former title-winning BVB player Nuri Sahin as coach was a lovely idea by Borussia Dortmund, but like many of the things the club has done since the departure of Jürgen Klopp, it was perhaps imbued with too much emotion. Sahin is under pressure after a disastrous run of results on the road - Dortmund have lost five straight competitive away games, and crashed out of the DFB Pokal in midweek at Wolfsburg - but the club are currently standing by him. Part of that is to do with the fact that the future of sporting director Sebastian Kehl (another ex-BVB player, and another disciple of Klopp), is tied to Sahin. A failure of this project would look very bad for Kehl.

Dortmund have won all of their home games, but they have been unconvincing in wins over limited opponents like Bochum, Heidenheim and St Pauli, so I'm more than happy to back RB Leipzig +0 & +0.5 here on the Asian Handicap at 1.98, as even a draw would give us a profit. Leipzig have made their best ever start to a Bundesliga season, they are joint-top of the league with six wins and two draws, and they have conceded just three goals in their first eight matches.

Recommended bets