Bundesliga Tips: Back goals galore in early title race clash | OneFootball

German Bundesliga

Granit Xhaka has been one of the keys to Bayer Leverkusen's amazing success

After picking up eight winners from 12 selections, Kevin Hatchard turns his attention to Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen. He'll be Sky Sports' Tactical Feed commentator for the game, and he's expecting plenty of goalmouth action.

Erling Haaland Superboost

Erling Haaland has been in sensational form this season, scoring an incredible 10 goals in his first five Premier League games. The Norwegian striker has also registered 19 shots on target in that period.

Newcastle have conceded the third highest amount of shots on target this season (29 in five league games) so it seems inevitable that Haaland - who has had at least two shots on target in each of his last five games - will get some shots away on Saturday.

If you fancy the Man City striker to register at least two shots on target at St James' Park then you can back him at the super-boosted price of 1/1, from 1/2, to do so. Just click on the odds in the below banner to go directly to the pre-loaded betslip.

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Fireworks aplenty in Munich

Bayern Munich v Bayer LeverkusenSaturday 28 September, 17:30Live on Sky Sports

What Bayer Leverkusen did in German football last season was unprecedented. They completed an unbeaten domestic double, barely believable for a club that had never won the Bundesliga title, and that hadn't won the DFB Pokal for decades. They condemned Bayern to a first season without the league title since 2012, and they did it playing stylish, controlled football under the incredible guidance of coach Xabi Alonso.

The bar has been set dizzyingly high, but Leverkusen kept their coach and their key players, and this term they have won six of their seven competitive matches. However, there are one or two red flags that Xabi Alonso must address.

The first issue is that Bayer have lost their long unbeaten run in domestic football. They blew a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 home defeat to RB Leipzig, their first loss to a German club since May 2023. It's difficult to know what effect that will have on Die Werkself and their opponents, but it feels significant to have seen that aura of invincibility removed.

The other issue - which is linked to the defeat to Leipzig, is Bayer's sudden inability to keep clean sheets and look solid defensively. A team that had leaked just 24 goals all season last term has already shipped nine goals in four matches, and in their last game they needed a last-gasp Victor Boniface winner to secure a 4-3 comeback victory against Wolfsburg. Xabi Alonso has talked on numerous occasions about poor positioning of his players and a lack of application without the ball, and he knows his football can't really succeed without that discipline.

Bayern are flying under new boss Vincent Kompany. They have racked up 29 goals in his first six games in charge, winning all six, and summer signing Michael Olise has been outstanding. The former Crystal Palace winger delivered two goals and two assists in last weekend's 5-0 win at Werder Bremen, and that came hot on the heels of a brace in the 9-2 hammering of Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

England captain Harry Kane continues to be extraordinary. He has delivered 54 goals in his first 51 appearances for Bayern, is already the highest-scoring Englishman in Bundesliga history, and has ten goals already this season.

However, it's worth considering that the Bavarian giants haven't really had an exacting test yet under Kompany, and this is by far their hardest game so far. Opta tell us that Xabi Alonso hasn't lost any of his three clashes with Bayern, and could become only the third coach in history to avoid defeat in his first four meetings with the rekordmeister.

Last season, Bayer grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw in Munich, before Xabi Alonso produced a tactical masterclass to deliver a 3-0 victory. That result broke Bayern, and turned a title race into a procession.

I'm not willing to call a winner here, but I will predict goals, given that both attacks are in formidable form. I'll use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back Over 3.5 Goals, Both Teams To Score and Granit Xhaka to commit a foul at 2.88. Xhaka committed five fouls across two games against Bayern last term, and in games when Bayer aren't able to dominate possession in the way they want to, he becomes more aggressive. In the Bundesliga last term, he committed 30 fouls in 33 league matches.

I'll also back Bayer striker Victor Boniface to have three or more shots, with at least one of them being on target. The Nigerian is averaging well over six shots per game in the Bundesliga this term, and that figure was well above four last term. He has already netted four goals in six appearances this season. On the Bet Builder, that outcome comes in at 1.84.

Bochum to feel Dortmund backlash

Borussia Dortmund v Bochum Friday 27 September, 19:30Live on Sky Sports

Nuri Sahin's unbeaten start to life as Borussia Dortmund coach came crashing down on Sunday, as BVB were demolished 5-1 at Stuttgart. They gave up a poor goal inside four minutes, as Deniz Undav strode through a fragmented defensive unit, and things got worse and worse as Die Schwarzgelben slipped to a fourth defeat against VfB since the start of last season. Given that Sahin is a relatively inexperienced coach, it's not the kind of loss he can afford very often, although as a former Borussia Dortmund player he has plenty of goodwill.

The one ray of light in the gloom was a first Bundesliga goal in Dortmund colours for Serhou Guirassy, who now seems fully fit after his knee problems. Guirassy netted 28 league goals for Stuttgart last season, and I expect him to have another successful campaign.

Dortmund's local rivals Bochum (clashes between the two are known as the little Revierderby, as the game isn't on a par historically with Dortmund v Schalke) are looking to kickstart their season under new coach Peter Zeidler, are they are yet to pick up a league victory under the former St Gallen boss. Last weekend they led 1-0 against Holstein Kiel, but were caught cold by a quickly taken free-kick, and conceded an 89th-minute equaliser. Bochum have never really recovered from the utterly foolhardy decision to sack coach Thomas Letsch, a course of action that nearly took them down last term.

Bochum have lost ten of their last 12 away games in the top division, conceding 31 goals in the process. Instead of backing Dortmund to beat a high handicap, I'll simply back Guirassy to score at on the Exchange. Dortmund will make lots of chances, and I expect Guirassy to convert at least one of them.

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