German Bundesliga Preview, Matchday 2: Bayern Munich Travel To Wolfsburg
Matchday 2 in the Bundesliga is highlight by Borussia Dortmund vs Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg vs Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen vs Werder Bremen.
1899 Hoffenheim vs Borussia Dortmund
Have you seen video of Borussia Dortmund’s showing last week? They’re pretty good. Mario Götze, Shinji Kagawa and Kevin Großkreutz are very deadly in the attack. I fully expect Hoffenheim to pick up their second loss in as many games. Dortmund should score at least another three goals in this match. They’re so good. Götze is really something else. He was excellent last season and has continued it this year. Pick: 1899 Hoffenheim 0 - 1 Borussia Dortmund
VfL Wolfsburg vs FC Bayern Munich
This will be quite the interesting match. Wolfsburg looked really good against Köln last week and came out 3-0 victors. Bayern looked really good last week against Borussia Mönchengladbach and came out 0-1 losers. Bayern were picked by many to take back their thrown from the boys in Dortmund. I think this is the week that Bayern begins their ascent up the table. News comes today that Arjen Robben will not be available for selection by Bayern due to a back injury, but the talent is still there to pick up the win. Pick: VfL Wolfsburg 1 - 2 Bayern Munich
FC Schalke 04 vs 1. FC Köln
Both clubs were embarrassed last week by Stuttgart and Wolfsburg respectively. I picked Schalke before the season as one of the dark horses to make a run at the title. They've got a lot of quality in the club and should be able to get back on track against Köln this week. Lukas Podolski will need to rebound from a poor performance against Wolfsburg last week if his side expect to get anything out of this match. Schalke are just too strong and for Köln and should get a victory on the back of Dutch forward Klaas Jan-Huntelaar who should open his season scoring account this weekend. Pick: FC Schalke 04 2 - 1 1. FC Köln
SC Freiburg vs 1. FSV Mainz 05
Mainz surprised everyone last week with their opening day upset of Bayer Leverkusen. They saw a lot of really talented players leave the club in the summer, but they looked really good in the victory. Sami Allagui continues to be an outstanding player for them. They’ll travel to Freiburg this weekend were Papiss Cisse will have other things in mind. The Freiburg forward got off to another good start with a goal last week in a 2-2 draw with Augsburg. Pick: SC Freiburg 1 - 1 1. FSV Mainz 05
1. FC Nürnberg vs Hannover 96
Hannover got off to an excellent start to the season last week after defeating Hoffenheim while Nürnberg needed an 80th minute goal to squeak past newly promoted Hertha Berlin. Mohammed Abdellaoue looks ready to break out and score some goals for Hannover. With Tomas Pekhart on form in week one, Nürnberg have to be excited that more goals will follow. Pick: 1. FC Nürnberg 2 - 2 Hannover 96
Hamburger SV vs Hertha Berlin
The quality in this Hamburg side was not on display last week when they were shellacked by Dortmund. I don't think any judgments can be made against Hamburg from that match except for the simple fact that they're just not as good as Dortmund. With transfer rumors swirling around Eljero Elia, we'll see if the speedy midfielder can focus on his duties. Berlin don't want to come out of week two with 0 points, so they'll fight to the very end to grab at least one point. We'll see how Hamburg's new defense looks in week two after being sliced and diced in week 1. Pick: Hamburger SV 2 - 1 Hertha Berlin
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs VfB Stuttgart
Stuttgart dominated their opening day match against Schalke, but this week they come up against the best young goalkeeper in the league in Gladbach’s Marc-André ter Stegen. Gladbach and their supporters will be on a high after pulling off the upset in Munich last week, and it’ll be interesting to see how Stuttgart can counter this. Igor de Camargo won’t be available for Gladbach, and it’s a massive loss. Pick: Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - 1 VfB Stuttgart
Sunday, August 14
1. FC Kaiserslautern vs FC Augsburg
Kaiserslautern need to get forward Itay Shechter going up front or it could be a long season for them. There’s only so much work that Christian Tiffert can do to keep this side going this season. Augsburg pulled off a great draw in week one with Freiburg. I think Tiffert produces a moment of brilliance this weekend. Pick: 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1 - 0 FC Augsburg
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs SV Werder Bremen
These two clubs had opposite 2-0 fortunes last week with Leverkusen losing and Bremen winning. Leverkusen goalkeeper Fabian Giefer suffered a concussion in the latter stages of that match, and instead of going back to David Yelldell, they've brought in 19 year old Bernd Leno from Stuttgart on loan. Leverkusen has too much talent up front to struggle for too long. Per Mertesacker seemed slightly unsettled this week with talks of a move to Arsenal, but they have seemed to die down a little bit. We could see a special match this week. Pick: Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2 - 2 SV Werder Bremen
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