Bundesliga Match Day 26: Preview and Forecast
The Friday afternoon delight in the Bundesliga features what should be a lopsides contest between Schalke 04 and Mainz. Schalke has won three in a row and is sitting pretty in second place of the table, while Mainz is wallowing in 16th place.
In a weird way this is a watershed game for Schalke. Win, and they are building the momentum and consistency that one would expect from a team looking to lock down a Champions League group stage berth; lose, and it's just another Schalke team that cannot put it all together.
We're expecting Guido Burgstaller and company to come out with a W and start to shake off any thoughts of a late season collapse. The bigger story with Schalke, however, is more about the players it is losing than the games it has lost. With Leon Goretzka already inked to Bayern, Max Meyer, a vital cog in the midfield for the Royal Blues, is rumored to be headed out of town as well.
Perhaps this Schalke side has one last run at a Champions League spot before experiencing the turnover that is expected after the season.
Prediction: Schalke 3, Mainz 1
SC Freiburg 1, Hertha Berlin 1: Freiburg got its doors blown off by Bayern Munich last week, while Hertha Berlin dropped a close decision to Schalke. Freiburg, to its credit, has been a tough draw to mostly everyone, while Hertha Berlin has taken some strategic game play over the past few weeks to secure a couple of close games. The feeling here is that neither side is quite ready to break through the other and that the game in a draw.
Hoffenheim 3, Wolfsburg 1: Hoffenheim has been borderline schizophrenic this season with its performances. Exactly what team shows up from week to week is anyone's guess and that includes coaching wunderkind Julian Nagelsmann (who we think will end up at Dortmund in the summer). Regardless, Wolfsburg has not had any problems with incinsistently; mostly because they have been consistently bad this season. This will be a good week for Serge Gnabry, Mark Uth, and the boys.
Hannover 96 2, Augsburg 1: Hannover is the Bundesliga team that - no matter who your rooting allegiance us with - you find yourself pulling for. Frankly, they aren't supposed to be as competitive as they've been. It's almost like no opponent quite believes they are as quite capable as they really are. Augsburg, meanwhile, has lost three of its last four and will likely be just another surprised victim at the hands of Hannover.
Bayern Munich 4, Hamburger SV 0: Jupp Heynckes has been rolling his squad rotation deep; mixing and matching whoever he feels will be a good fit....and it has worked magically. Barring any massive let down from last week combined with a look ahead to the Champions League match-up vs. Besiktas; it should be a good day for Die Roten. Heynckes has plenty of options on his bench and will likely get decent production from whoever he chooses. Hamburger SV, meanwhile, had an awful week with a major team management overhaul and rumors swirling about the tenuous future of stud prospect Jann-Fiete Arp, who may want to bold Hamburg in favor of this week's opponents.
Bayern Leverkusen 3, Borussia Monchengladbach 2: Two of our favorite sides to watch this season will hook up for what should be an offensively-driven game. Thorgan Hazard and Lars Stindl were in excellent working form last week, while Julian Brandt, Leon Bailey, and Kevin Volland lead the Leverkusen attack. We are hoping the teams come out and throw haymakers offensively. Either way, we like Leverkusen to get a bit of a winning streak started.
VfB Stuttgart 2, RB Leipzig 2: Leipzig is the obvious choice in this one, but we feel like the midweek Europa League match could have ill-effects a battle-hardened core Stuttgart men like Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber. Leipzig should win this game. In fact, they should win it running away...but something is just telling us that Stuttgart has enough to keep Leipzig bottled up and give Ralph Hasenhüttl another frustrating Bundesliga result.
Borussia Dortmund 2, Eintracht Frankfurt 1: Speaking of teams that will be looking off a little Europa League lethargy, Dortmund was embarrassed by RB Salzburg, 2-1, and now much - once again - seek to find its way in the Bundesliga. Frankfurt will not be a pushover and in fact, should probably be favored in this match. It will be up to Marco Reus to lead BVB in this one. Without him dictating pace and energy, Dortmund is a wayward side. On the right side, Christian Pulisic turned in an excellent performance as a substitute for the Black and Yellows, which will hopefully get him back on the right track.
Werder Bremen 2, FC Koln 1: Bremen was absurdly impressive in battling back to draw against M'Gladbach last week, while Koln dropped a heartbreaker to Stuttgart. Despite the teams' respective records, we would expect that this one will be entertaining. Both squads appear to have let any tentative play go to the wayside as they both seek their way out of the RELEGATION DANGER ZONE. Both teams have been impressive and we are interested to see more of Bremen's Marco Friedl and Aron Johannsson; while Koln's resurgence under Stefan Ruthenbeck should be lauded for his efforts in making Koln a competitive side after looking lost under Peter Stoger.
Last week's record: 6-3
Overall record: 20-25
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and as a loss if there is a winner; conversely if a game is predicted to have a winner but ends in a tie, it will count as a loss.
