Bundesliga Match Day 23: Preview and Forecast
It was hard to think at the onset of this season that Eintracht Frankfurt was going to be one of the Bundesliga's most interesting teams, but as former New York Jets coach (and famous Foot Man) Rex Ryan once said, "Here we are, here the f*** we are."
Eintracht Frankfurt has made itself a fixture near the top of the Bundesliga table. With a potent offense and timely defending, the squad has likely exceeded expectations already. But why be content now? With each passing week Eintracht Frankfurt inches closer to securing a coveted top-four spot that would lead to the Champions League.
With forwards Sebastian Holler, Ante Rebic, Marius Wolf, and Luka Jovic, along with midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng doing the majority of the scoring, the Eagles look strong enough and deep enough to maintain their position. With wins in four of its last five matches, Eintracht Frankfurt appears ready for its upcoming slate of challenges.
Enter a rejuventated RB Leipzig. With Emil Forsberg back at his playmaking best, Die Roten Bullen looks poised to reach that lofty potential it has and we expect Leipzig to temporarily derail the Eagles' progress. With Forsberg in the fold and doing his best to connect with Timo Werner, we are expecting Leipzig to eek out a close one
Prediction: RB Leipzig 3, Eintracht Frankfurt 2.
The rest of the forecast is below, continue reading at your own risk:
Hertha Berlin 2, Mainz 1: Simply put, this is not one of the marquee match-ups this week, but this is what we get to kick things off later today. Hertha Berlin has one win in its last five games (albeit with three draws) and Mainz is also one for its last five (albeit with with four losses). Saloman Kalou (rememeber that is Kalou, not Calliou...this is important so parents do not overreact and smash their TVs) and Davie Selke are among the Berliners, who will make life tough (again) for Mainz.
Bayern Munich 4, Wolfsburg 1: The much anticipated return of Thiago Alcantara just makes Die Roten deeper and more terrifying. With the oodles of talent Jupp Heynckes has at his disposal, it's impossible to even guess at what the Bayern lineup will look like, but whoever is in it, the squad should be able to help the Reds race away from Wolfsburg. If Wolfsburg decides to play ultra-conservative and play 7-8 players back, it could take Bayern a bit to get on track, but we are expecting a blowout.
Bayer Leverkusen 3, Hamburger SV 1: Leverkusen dropped to fifth in the table last week after a horrid performance again Hertha Berlin. It is hard to think that Kevin Volland, Leon Bailey, and company have another awful outing in them. Hamburger SV, meanwhile, is still fighting to get out of the basement of the standings. It is not happening this week for Hamburger SV.
FC Koln 2, Hannover 96, 1: We believed in the resurgent FC Koln...until they went out and totally disappointed us last week!! No worries, we will hop right back on that bandwagon...
Sensible Me: Wait, hold up...are you sure we WANT to do this?
Irresponsible Me: We'll do it live! F*** it! (the running theme on The Barrel for the week)
For its part, Hannover 96 has been mildly impressive this year, doing just enough to stay safe from the bottom of the standings. We will ride or die with Koln, though (WE ALL KNOW HOW THIS WILL END).
Werder Bremen 2, SC Freiburg 2: Bremen is on a bit of a roll (two game win streak!), while Freiburg has not been bad of late (two wins and four draws in its last seven games). This one looks like it will end of two teams engaging in a hard-fought battle with no clear cut winner.
Schalke 04 2, Hoffenheim 2: The "Uth Bowl" doesn't quite have the same ring as last week's "Gotezka Bowl", but again, here we are! In a game that could garner match of the week consideration, Schalke will meet with Hoffenheim in a contest where both sides are seeking to gain some consistency. I know with picking these ties, I am going to lose...it's inevitable. Both teams need to create some positive momentum, but will find the going tough against an equally desperate side.
Borussia Dortmund 4, Borussia Monchengladbach 3: Not sure why, but I feel like this has shootout written all over it. M'Gladbach has been largely disappointing over the past two months. WIth only two wins in their last seven games, M'Gladbach is not living up to its potential. Even if it shows some spark (which we are expecting), it likely won't matter against the suddenly red-hot Dortmund squad. The arrival of Michy Batshuayi has re-charged Dortmund and they now look as offensively potent as they have all season. M'Gladbach needs the likes Thorgan Hazard, Lars Stindl, and Raffael to show up for this game, but even then, it likely won't matter against the resurgent Dortmund side.
VfB Stuttgart 2, Augsburg 1: I feel like Stuttgart should be having more success and Augsburg should be having a bit less. This game will even those things out a bit.
Overall prediction record: 8 wins, 10 losses.
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and a loss if there is a winner in the game; conversely games that end in ties, but where a winner is predicted count as a loss.
