Bundesliga Match Day 15: Preview and Forecast
- Chuck Smith
- Dec 14, 2018
- 4 min read
Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen each feature some of the Bundesliga's best and brightest young talent. While Die Adler has had an impressive run so far this season behind Luka Jovic, Ante Rebic, and Sebastian Haller, Die Werkself has been very disappointing.
Kai Havertz has played well, but Julian Brandt, Leon Bailey, Mitchell Weiser, and Jonathan Tah have not had the impact that they should have this season. One bright spot is that Kevin Volland is starting to heat up a bit in an effort to carry the Leverkusen offense, while Brandt and Bailey struggle to find their footing this season. Inconsistency and merely hoping for strong play won't be enough against Eintracht Frankfurt, though.
Die Adler is an exciting and brutally fearless team. While not perfect (see the choppy loss to Wolfsburg), Frankfurt has emerged as relentless with its attack and dangerous for any opponent. Expect this to be a fun game, but yet another contest in which Leverkusen will walk away unfulfilled.
Prediction: Eintracht Frankfurt 3, Bayer Leverkusen 2.
Wolfsburg 2, FC Nürnberg 1: Der Club is in a bit of a rut, while the Wolves are once again finding their stride. Traveling to Nürnberg won't be easy, but Der Club showed no signs of life last week against Bayern, while Wolfsburg is undefeated in its last three games.
Schalke 04 2, FC Augsburg 1: Die Königsblauen will head to Augsburg after a feisty, but ultimately disappointing loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Revierderby. This is a bit of a "must win" for Schalke, which is diving down the table quickly, while Die Fuggerstädter is winless in its last five games (four losses). This is not a match-up of two teams hitting their peak.
At some point Schalke has to begin to make a move (right?!), but Augsburg is not a pushover. It's been a bad bit of luck with injuries for Die Fuggerstädter, but we expect Augsburg to eventually progress back to be a tough matchup within the league. An interesting player to watch in this game will be Weston McKennie, who has been used like a Swiss Army knife, by Domenico Tedesco. Despite McKennie's affinity for playing the "8", Tedesco deploys him just about everywhere. What will tomorrow hold for the young American?
SC Freiburg 2, Fortuna Düsseldorf 2: Freiburg is coming off of a string of decent performances, but the trip to F95 could be a bit of a bump in the road. As the last place team in the table, Fortuna Düsseldorf has actually performed better of late. This fees like a game that Freiburg can't claw its way out of and one that F95 will scrape away a draw.
Bayern Munich 3, Hannover 96 0: Bayern has found its offensive game, but aside of a clean sheet last weekend against Der Club, there are still some cracks in the defense for the Bavarians. Despite possessing a world of talent on the back line, Bayern has not been able to get Manuel Neuer, Niklas Sule, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, and David Alaba (among others) in sync. While H96 does present some match-up difficulties, this should be another game where Die Roten can pick up three points.
One positive for Bayern is that it has received some exceptional play from some its front line (Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry) players of late, along with its newly minted double pivot (Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka). Niko Kovac has been riding the same lineup of late; eschewing his fondness for a deep squad rotation. We'll see if that trend continues against Hannover.
Hannover's disappointing run (one win in its last five games) will likely continue. Despite featuring Niclas Fullkrug and Bobby Wood, Hannover cannot generate much offense consistently.
Hoffenheim 2, Borussia Monchengladbach 2: Hoffenheim has been extremely interesting to follow. They are unbeaten in their last seven Bundesliga games (four wins, three draws), while M'Gladbach has been one of the more exciting teams in the league this season. Julian Nagelsmann has his squad sitting in 7th place, on the cusp of forcing its way into a top six position. Powered by Reiss Nelson and Andrej Kramaric, the Hoffenheim offense has shown a bit more flair of late, which has helped the squad's bolt up the standings.
Die Fohlen has just been strong all season. With only a few minor hiccups, M'Gladbach has been excellent throughout the season. Thorgan Hazard has been one of the league's top players and has drawn the attention of quite a few of Europe's top clubs, including Bayern Munich.
Hertha Berlin 2, VfB Stuttgart 1: Die Alte Dame will travel to Stuttgart to face a very desperate group of Swabians. Unfortunately for Stuttgart, this week won't make the mood around Mercedes-Benz Arena any better.
Mario Gomez could be on the verge of providing an offensive jolt for Stuttgart, but an unsteady defense and shaky midfield has been the primary issue for the squad's failure this season.
Borussia Dortmund 3, Werder Bremen 1: Dortmund is deep, talented, and rolling right through every Bundesliga team in its path. It seems unlikely that Werder Bremen will be able to derail BVB's 14 game unbeaten streak in the league. It won't be easy by any means, but Dortmund just has that look and each move Lucien Favre makes right now appears to work.
RB Leipzig 2, Mainz 1: Die Roten Bullen has had a very forgettable week. After an embarrassing 3-0 loss to SC Freiburg last weekend, Leipzig stumbled right out of the Europa League with a shocking loss to Rosenborg. This was not how the plans were drawn for the 2018-2019 season for Leizpig. Regardless, Mainz will not want to make a rebound easy.
M05 has been one of the league's surprising teams. With only one loss in its last five games, Mainz has pushed its way into the middle of the table, relatively far away from fighting for a relegation sport where most expected them to be. That said, Leipzig will be able to run free and gamble offensively against Mainz, which will suit Die Roten Bullen well as they seek to get back on track. Expect Timo Werner to find the back of the net for Leipzig.
Last week's record: 4-5
Season record: 53-73
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.
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