The worst thing that Augsburg could have done last weekend was take the lead at Signal Iduna Park, with Florian Niederlechner scoring a first minute opener in this Bundesliga opener before Borussia Dortmund went crazy and pilfered five goals in front of their vocal supporters.
That was a real statement of intent from Lucian Favre’s side and we might expect a similar kind of attacking display in Cologne, with players such as Jadon Sancho, Marco Reus and Paco Alcacer set to cause FC Koln all kinds of torment in this encounter.
Mats Hummels is back at the club he adores to continue being the rock in defence, with Thorgen Hazard and Axel Witsel the ace Belgian midfielders who could see Dortmund challenge hard for the Bundesliga crown.
Nevertheless, this Friday night clash at the RheinEnergieStadion represents a tougher assignment against a team who will be playing in front of their own fans for the first time this season.
FC Koln were the German Bundesliga 2 winners last season when winning the division by a comfortable six point margin, with the team actually garnering more points on the road than they did at home.
Nevertheless, they adopted a high-scoring approach to most games and averaged nearly three goals per home game, so there appears to be little danger of this one ending in a low scoreline.
Rather than bet on the short odds about the visitors, we quite like the 11/10 about four or more goals being scored, with both teams capable of chipping in with goals for what should be an exciting affair.
Dortmund will be out to fill their boots and Koln might have to resort to advancing in numbers themselves to try and match them stride for stride.
BETTING TIP
Over 3.5 Goals @ 11/10 with Unibet
Two of the biggest clubs in German football clash at the Veltins Arena, with Schalke having started the season with a creditable goalless draw away to Borussia Monchengladbach.
It was largely achieved by having a stout defensive rearguard which saw them limit dangerous opponents to only four shots on target, while Schalke themselves only managed to get one on target although it was job done and a point on the board.
Schalke’s tough start to the campaign continues on Saturday when they entertain Bayern Munich, although they will be encouraged by the way in which Hertha Berlin went to the Allianz Arena and landed a 2-2 draw.
However, the home side had serious issues on home soil last season and it was crazy to think they were actually a Champions League side considering there were just four wins at the Veltins Arena all term.
There were also ten losses suffered by the team, with that being more defeats at home than any other side with the exception of Hannover who incurred eleven reverses and were promptly relegated.
The supporters will want improvement this time around and this could be a good time to be facing a Bayern side who have just recruited Philippe Coutinho on a season-long loan from Barcelona.
Coutinho moving from Liverpool to the Nou Camp was supposed to be a dream move although the Brazilian just wasn’t able to make an impression and the supporters were reduced to jeering him which was in stark contrast the way he was idolised at Anfield.
We might see the attacking midfielder feature here although he’s unlikely to be match fit and it’s worth noting that Bayern stumbled six time on the road on the way to winning the title last season.
Schalke can certainly match a Bayern Munich team still learning to cope without the retired Arjen Robben and the departed Franck Ribery, with star striker Robert Lewandowski still firing in the goals although the Pole can’t be relied upon to save his team every time.
We’re going to back the home side on the Asian Handicap and their 1.5 goal start means they can afford to lose the game by a single goal and this bet would still prove profitable.
BETTING TIP
Schalke +1.5 @ 4/5 with Unibet
Are Leipzig genuine German title contenders this season? They certainly made a statement of intent in their opening clash of the campaign when winning 4-0 against a Union Berlin side who had no response to the waves of attacks that greeted them from the first minute to the final whistle.
Timo Werner has been a sharp shooter for the Red Bull team for several seasons and this was again the case last weekend, although the goals came from four different players and Leipzig are now strong favourites to follow up this victory with another win against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Adi Hutter’s team enjoyed a more slender margin of victory when triumphing against Hoffenheim and it was actually Eintracht’s sixth consecutive win of the campaign considering that the Frankfurt side have had Europa League engagements since 25 July.
Indeed, this could be a valid reason to oppose the Frankfurt team for this clash, with the side playing this clash just three days after facing Strasbourg in the Europa League.
We know that European excursions can take their toll and we’re happy to back Leipzig at -1 on the Asian Handicap, with the home side needing to simply win by a goal to claim money back while any other margin of victory would see us win with this bet.
BETTING TIP
RB Leipzig -1 @ 81/100 with Unibet