With all eighteen Bundesliga teams playing between Friday and Sunday, we take a look at the scheduled games and choose our five best bets.
After getting Monday’s FC Koln vs. RB Leipzig game totally spot on with our pick of Leipzig to win and over 2.5 goals (Leipzig won 4-2), we’re hoping to take that winning momentum into this weekend’s Bundesliga matches!
Bundesliga Matchday 30 Preview
Before we make our predictions and picks for this weekend’s Bundesliga matches, let’s take a look at the current league standings.
With just five Matchdays remaining in this season’s Bundesliga, the league is Bayern Munich’s to lose. On the hunt for an eighth successive Bundesliga title, Bayern are currently seven points clear of Borussia Dortmund in second-place and have won all four of their games since the return to action, including a victory against Dortmund.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this season’s Bundesliga run-in is the battle for the top four spots in the league. The top four teams are rewarded with a place in next season’s Champions League. It looks like Leipzig, Monchengladbach and Leverkusen will battle right to the very end for those all-important spots.
At the other end of the table, Paderborn look destined for relegation unless they pull off something miraculous. Meanwhile, Dusseldorf and Werder Bremen will hope they can string together enough decent results to avoid the drop into Germany’s second division.
Here’s a look at the Bundesliga Matchday 30 fixtures.
Freiburg vs. Monchengladbach on Friday (2:30pm EST) will see Monchengladbach hope to pick up another three points and heighten their chances of securing a top-four place. On Saturday, Leipzig face strugglers Paderborn and there’s a huge game at the top of the table between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Sunday sees Werder Bremen take on Wolfsburg, Union Berlin host Schalke and Koln travel to Augsburg.
Here are our three best predictions and picks for this weekend’s matches that we feel have the best chance of winning.
SC Freiburg vs. Borussia Monchengladbach Prediction
Borussia Monchengladbach will be hoping to mount pressure on 3rd place Leipzig while increasing their chances of securing a Champions League place for next season. There’s pressure on Monchengladbach as we approach the end of the season, but they seem to be thriving off it after a huge 4-1 victory against Union Berlin last weekend.
In contrast, Freiburg are still searching for their first win since the Bundesliga’s return to play after recording two draws and two losses in May. Freiburg still have much to play for as they sit in 8th place, just four points away from 6th place and a European ticket.
Monchengladbach should have just enough to defeat Freiburg on Friday. There is an 18-point gap between the sides in the league and Monchengladbach have the mental upper-hand in this fixture after recording a 3-1 victory the last time they met back in December. It’s sure to be a tightly-contested one though!
SC Freiburg vs. Borussia Monchengladbach Pick
RB Leipzig vs. Paderborn Prediction
This has got to the most one-sided fixture this weekend. Leipzig come into this game on a ten-match unbeaten run, conceding just 8 in that time. High-flying Leipzig will hope to take their positive momentum into Saturday’s game.
Paderborn, on the other hand, are struggling. They will be desperate to pick up anything from Saturday’s fixture to help their chances of remaining in the Bundesliga next season. However, they’ve lacked any real quality since the return to action and confidence will be low after a 6-1 defeat to Dortmund last season.
Paderborn have only scored two goals in the four games since the return and have no clear leaders in the team who will be able to compete with a Leipzig team full of confidence. We can see this being a routine victory for Leipzig, and Paderborn won’t really cause any trouble for Leipzig’s defense.
RB Leipzig vs. Paderborn Pick
Union Berlin vs. Schalke Prediction
Both teams sit in mid-table and neither look in danger of relegation or likely to enter the European places. Sunday’s fixture in Berlin is set to be a game with very little on the line for either team.
On top of this, Union and Schalke have scored a combined three goals in eight games since the league’s return. Just three. Neither team have displayed any kind of attacking threat in the previous few weeks and it’s unlikely that this will be a high-scoring game. We’ll be really shocked if it is.
