hoffenheim went into the bundesliga winter break on the back of a remarkable run of six straight draws. add the four wins on the spin that preceded that run and you see that it’s far from easy to beat this hoffenheim team. any yet it’s bayern munich who are the favourites in the football betting for friday night’s match at the rhein-neckar-arena.
bayern are, themselves, on a strong run of form as they look to keep the pressure up on borussia dortmund and make it a real title challenge. if they are to win their sixth game in row, bayern will surely need to score at least two goals as hoffenheim have failed to score in just one home game. this should be an entertaining match in which there is every chance of 3.5 goals being scored at best betting odds of evens.
unai emery and maurizio sarri both knew there would be difficulties during their first season in english football. arsenal and chelsea have played some excellent football and secured some big results under their new managers but they’ve both had their problems finding their best stuff of late making this a particularly important london derby.
arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to west ham last saturday was arguably their worst performance of the season so far. the emirates crowd will demand much better early on saturday evening and arsenal should at least manage a goal. the same is true of chelsea who have failed to score in just one away game. therefore it is no surprise that our odds comparison shows that both teams to score is odds on across the board but 8/15 is still a good enough price to kick our acca off.
perhaps inspired by the threat of the return of jose mourinho, the real madrid players bucked their ideas up last weekend to put a run of two games without a win to bed. they were far from perfect in their 2-1 win over real betis but they got the job done for their temporary manager, santiago solari.
real madrid will have to be much better on saturday afternoon when sevilla visit the santiago bernabeu. the teams are level on 33 points in third and fourth in la liga but our odds comparison shows that the home side are expected to move three points clear. it’s not going to be easy though as sevilla are a very well organised team who can keep the scoring down. therefore, a bet on under 3.5 goals looks pretty safe at 4/6.
the borussia dortmund fans and players have been waiting with baited breath to get back to action. everybody at the club is anxious to show that the winter break has not robbed them of any momentum. that will be quite severely tested on saturday afternoon when they travel to saxony to take on rb leipzig.
leipzig are 11 points behind the bundesliga leaders but there is no doubt that they are having yet another impressive season. they are still creating plenty of chances whilst tightening up considerably. no team has conceded fewer goals than rb leipzig whilst dortmund’s defence has been breached just once more. this could be a tighter match than the football odds suggest (over 2.5 goals is available at 4/6). it’s certainly going to be tough for dortmund but they should avoid defeat so the dortmund/draw option is perhaps the best way forward at odds of 4/7.
fulham v tottenham - both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
losing 1-0 to man united made last sunday a bad enough day for tottenham fans but things got worse when harry kane limped off the pitch with an ankle injury that is set to keep him out of action for around two months. that is particularly bad news as son heung-min has left to play for south korea in the afc asian cup.
the football odds show that the bookies believe spurs won’t have a problem overcoming their selection problems to beat fulham but we’re not so sure. the cottagers are fighting for their lives in the relegation battle and whilst they are still porous in defence they should be able to score. that makes the 5/4 you can get on both teams to score and there being over 2.5 goals scored look a great price.
serie a returns from its winter break this weekend. the break is always welcome but the players of both napoli and lazio were left with plenty to think about and will surely be itching to get back to action with this exciting looking match on sunday evening.
if lazio are to ensure they remain in the top four they’ll have to improve their record against the top sides. simone inzaghi’s men are yet to beat any of the current top nine. it’ll be very difficult to end that run against napoli who went into the break on the back of five wins from six matches. napoli are unbeaten at home in the league this season and can return with a bang by winning at best betting odds of 4/5.
betting conclusions
the hectic winter schedule in english football is really taking its toll with injuries causing problems for teams all over the premier league. meanwhile, the nicely rested players in spain got back to work last weekend whilst the action is about to get back underway in the bundesliga and serie a.
the race for titles across europe is about to really intensify now as teams start thinking about the run for home. to try and make the most of some excellent matches ahead of us we’ve put together a 32/1 european football accumulator from the best bets.