Our tips for Bundesliga Matchday Five
Blink and you'd miss it: the Bundesliga is back on again as Germany's top clubs face off in mid-week Tuesday and Wednesday action. DW sports' André Leslie gives his picks for the coming Bundesliga matches.
A tough job for Frankfurt
On Tuesday night, Eintracht Frankfurt will host Mainz in what will be a tricky encounter for the hosts. Frankfurt are solid enough, and Mainz's start to the season was catastrophic. But Kasper Hjulmand's lads appear back on song after beating Dortmund on the weekend with some exciting attacking football. We expect they’ll keep that form going against Eintracht. Our tip: a 2-0 road win for Mainz.
Can Schalke do it?
Bremen have had one of their worst season starts in Bundesliga history, and Schalke are inconsistent - to put it kindly - just now. In addition, the Royal Blues will be without Julian Draxler for this game, banned for two matches for kicking Frankfurt's Carlos Zambrano. We'll predict a high-scoring draw, as both teams push to get their first win of the season: 3-3 the final score.
Who's the boss?
The draw in Hamburg last weekend won’t have suited Bayern’s boss Pep Guardiola. Thomas Müller, pictured above, also wasn't impressed. Now the German champs are up against Paderborn. The newbies may be leading the league at the moment on goal difference, but expect Bayern to show them who’s boss in the Allianz-Arena on Tuesday night. Our tip: 3-0 to Bayern.
Battle of the south-west
Could this be Hoffenheim’s year again, just like in the first half of 2008 when they finished the first half of the season at the top of the league? We’ll get another chance to see just how good they are in their match against Freiburg. We reckon they’ll keep the good form going. Our tip: Hoffenheim to win 2-1.
No goal-fest
On Wednesday, Hannover versus Cologne is likely to be a pretty dour affair. Neither team has been scoring much of late - while Cologne have not conceded a single league goal this season - and this match is likely to continue that trend. The goalkeepers are likely to be the only winners in this game. Our tip: 0-0.
Dortmund in trouble?
The injuries just won’t stop at Dortmund at the moment: Henrikh Mkhitaryan has now injured his foot, meaning BVB lose yet another playmaker. What better time for struggling, last-placed Stuttgart to get an upset then? It’ll still be close though. Our tip: 2-1 to Stuttgart.
Wolves roam the capital
Berlin have started in particularly average fashion this season, with two points in total, managing a draw from their match against Freiburg at the weekend. In contrast, their opponents on Wednesday Wolfsburg are looking good, after smashing Leverkusen. Our tip: 2-1 to Wolfsburg.
An easy assignment, right?
Speaking of Leverkusen, it’s time for the league’s most entertaining side to get back that winning feeling against Augsburg. It should be a comfortable win for them at home, but they’ll let a goal or two in probably, as defending isn’t really their thing. Our tip: 3-2 to Leverkusen.
Have Hamburg finally turned the corner?
Will Joe Zinnbauer actually make a difference? Can Hamburg live up to their long tradition? With that strong display against Bayern last round, things seem to be finally looking up for HSV. Gladbach, on the other hand, are running out of gas a little and could be ripe for a first Bundesliga defeat this weekend. We’re going to gamble a little and predict a Hamburg win. Our tip: 1-0 to the visitors.
Sliding down the table...
DW reporter Thomas Klein managed a measly single point from his predictions last weekend, meaning we are now 391st on the overall table. Let's hope things improve this week! Remember: if you want to put in your tips now for this coming matchday, it's not too late. Just head here: http://kickoff.dw.de/betting.xhtml