Bundesliga Match Day 9: Preview and Forecast
Schalke is desperate.
The underachieving, seemingly lost Domenico Tedesco-led club is frantically searching for a way to be better in the Bundesliga, but has not found its rotation or rhythm as of yet. Leipzig is the better team at the moment, but always feels like it is capable of a let down.
Schalke will undoubtedly be looking to pull out a win any way it can and that most likely means slowing down the likes of Timo Werner, Jean-Kevin Augustin, and Yussuf Poulsen. Die Königsblauen's strength this season has been within its midfield, but even with that area of solid play, Schalke has just been rampantly inconsistent.
Without a "go-to" goal scorer (Mark Uth has not established himself to be 'the man' as of yet), Schalke is just not dangerous enough to scare anyone. At some point, people will start to shift the blame from under-performing players to the coach and Tedesco may not be able to argue his way into job security if the team does not start to show a little life in the Bundesliga.
One of the few bright spots so far this season for Schalke has been the continued solid play of midfielder and USMNT future star Weston McKennie. McKennie has injected life into the lineup and had several big moments in the season so far to assert himself as one of the league's bright, young stars.
Schalke needs a win, but will likely be okay walking out of this one with a draw.
Prediction: Schalke 1, RB Leipzig 1
Borussia Monchengladbach 3, SC Freiburg 1: With rumors of Borussia Dortmund sniffing around M'Gladbach's Thorgan Hazard, time may be of the essence for the Foals. M'Gladbach has been one of the more delightful teams to watch in that they play a very aggressive style and are willing to trade punches with any squad in the league. With Lars Stindl back in the fold, Die Fohlen is an absolute contender for a top six spot in the table and can make life very difficult for any team in the league on a given day (just ask Bayern Munich!).
Freiburg, while pesky, has not really figured things out in the league. Up and down with no real consistency, Breisgau-Brasiliane is getting to the point where it will need make some sort of move in the right direction. Currently sitting in 11th place, this would be a huge win for Freiburg and coach Christian Streich. There is potential with Breisgau-Brasiliane, but it has not differentiated itself from the league's doormats enough to warrant being an upset special this week.
Borussia Dortmund 3, Hertha Berlin 2: Dortmund is incredibly hot right now and is on the verge of making itself the official favorite to win the league (pending a Der Klassiker date with Bayern on November 10th), but Die Alte Dame has had some success in crushing the hopes of giants this season. Ondrej Duda has been an enigma for Hertha Berlin and should test the sometimes shaky BVB backline thoroughly, but it will be Die Alte Dame's defensive corps that will likely have it's hands full with Marco Reus and company. Hertha will make it tough, but Dortmund is just too hot right now.
Wolfsburg 2, Fortuna Düsseldorf 1: Düsseldorf is in a bad spot right now and the Wolves are looking to rebound after being dumped by Bayern. Until F95 starts to show a little life, it is very hard to pick them. More than anyone, Düsseldorf seems bound for relegation unless a serious and dramatic change in its play occurs.
FC Augsburg 1, Hannover 96 1: Another mucker, Hannover will likely be looking to put the clamps on the high powered Augsburg offense that is powered by Alfred Finnbogason, Philipp Max, and Michael Gregoritsch. At the time of this post, Finnbogason was questionable for the game with an illness, which would be a huge blow to Die Fuggerstädter. Hannover, meanwhile, will look to keep this one close and should be able to grind Augsburg into a tie.
Bayern Munich 3, Mainz 0: Bayern has looked slightly better lately (honestly not much, but at least it is winning). Mainz, however, has been pretty awful. This should be a relatively easy win for Bayern. but Die Roten often has issues with teams who make a strong effort to park the bus. It is very doubtful that Mainz will try to take the same route as Hertha Berlin or Borussia Monchengladbach and try to just play with Bayern. 3-0 seems like a fair score for this game.
One thing that has been relatively shocking of late with Bayern, however, is the relegation of Thomas Muller to the bench. In my estimation, Muller is still among the top 11 players and presents Bayern with its best option as an attacking midfielder. Something, however, is pushing Niko Kovac to turn away from the longtime, Bavarian stalwart as he has been mired on the bench for the last two games. It is a curious case that Kovac has not directly addresses as of yet. Should Muller return against Mainz, he will undoubtedly be playing under self-imposed pressure to perform. It will an interesting development to watch as Bayern struggles to regain its position as the league's resident monster.
Hoffenheim 2, Vfb Stuttgart 1: Stuttgart is scuffling a bit at the moment. Okay, Die Schwaben is really hurting, while Hoffenheim has endured its normal up-and-down early season run under Julian Nagelsmann. This seems like a spot where Hoffenheim will take care of business as Stuttgart has been a dumpster fire over the past two match days.
Werder Bremen 2, Bayer Leverkusen 2: The calls for Heiko Herrlich's head will continue to grow louder as more lackluster performances mount up for Leverkusen. Given the youth, talent, and expectations that Die Werkself had entering the season, Leverkusen's performance in the Bundesliga and in the Europa League has been nothing short of extremely disappointing.
Bremen, meanwhile, has been excellent in battling its way to third place in the table. Behind an extremely balanced attack and 21-year old star, Maximilian Eggestein, Bremen has been efficient offensively, while also playing staunch defense. This Bremen squad has a confident look and feel, but Leverkusen is extremely desperate. If Die Werkself cannot at least pull a draw out of this game, this will only get worse for Herrlich.
Eintracht Frankfurt 3 FC Nürnberg 1: Yeah, we don't expect Luka Jovic to score five goals in this game, but he will likely be a driving force behind another impressive win for Die Adler. I am loving the relentless attacking style of this Eintracht squad. It would be a joy to watch it keep going and see what sort of damage Die Adler could do over the course of the season against the league's heavyweights.
Good luck Nürnberg!
Random Entertainment Note
With so many promos pushing "the final episodes of Rick Grimes", The Walking Dead is at a bit of a crossroads even if the network and showrunners don't want to admit it. What I think is lost by those folks is that the show is Rick Grimes. Granted, there are other interesting characters, but Grimes was the soul, the viciousness, and the leader of the lost world.
Without that figure involved, The Walking Dead just becomes another procedural drama:
1 - Group encounters danger
2 - Every so often a key character dies to put up the illusion that the show can still provide a shock
3 - Group survives danger, but is somehow damaged in a way
4 - Group works towards recovery as a new danger unfolds
The character of Rick Grimes was absolutely bigger than The Walking Dead. The show itself, might be a rudderless ship drifting about with the hope of seeing any sort of satisfying ending. Maybe its best that way, but more than likely it is not. As soooooo many people have invested hundreds of hours of time in watching the show, it would be an extreme letdown to have it cancelled before it reach some sort of conclusion.
For the character of Rick, however, it appears the end is near.
Hopefully the showrunners and writers can start to push the series to its end. Killing (possibly...I guess Rick could still leave the show without death) off Rick only makes the show worse and despite how interesting we may find some of the other characters...Rick is by far the heart, mind, and soul of the show. Without him, it's just a bunch of survivors waiting until their ticket has been punched for death.
I'd imagine this move will be the likely tipping point for many people that have been on the fence with the show. If you are looking for a good reason to jump off the bandwagon, this would be it.
Last week's record: 5-4 Season record: 31-41
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.
