After the Friday fireworks, more is expected over the weekend with eight games still to be delivered in the opening round of the German top flight.
The Bundesliga campaign opened with an entertaining 1-1 draw between Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayern Munich and fans and neutrals alike will be hoping for more of the same over the weekend.
Rose’s Dortmund Ready?
A glance at Saturday’s fixture list immediately draws the eye to the final game at half-past five where Marco Rose makes his bow as Borussia Dortmund boss at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Typically a 4-2-3-1 team, Rose looks set to impose the 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 that worked so well for him at Salzburg and Gladbach on Der BVB.
I want you to put the word out there that we back up
pic.twitter.com/0KhCJk0uOr
— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) August 13, 2021
That approach would allow him to partner new boy Donyell Malen with Erling Haaland in attack while also potentially giving a more central role to Marco Reus. However, Rose’s defence is a worry and a home win and both to score is handy at 29/20.
Frankfurt new boy Rafael Santos Borre is 23/10 to get on the scoresheet at anytime, as he looks to replace the 28 goals scored by the departed Andre Silva, the Portuguese netting the winner in this fixture last term.
Meanwhile, Malen is 7/5 in the anytime market to break his duck but the attention, and understandably so, falls on Haaland.
A hat-trick in last weekend’s 3-0 DFB-Pokal win over Wehen Wiesbaden says all you need to know about his form and the Norwegian is 2/1 to net two or more on Saturday, with him potentially the key to his coach making a winning start.
Look for Leipzig in Mainz
Sunday’s first game ignites a new era for RB Leipzig as they begin life without Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate and manager Julian Nagelsmann.
Marcel Sabitzer may also be absent amidst rumours he is poised to join Nagelsmann and Upamencano at Bayern but new boss Jesse Marsh still has plenty of talent at his disposal.
While his side have clearly been weakened at the back, they have arguably upgraded at the other end by signing the aforementioned Silva.
The 25-year-old is 7/5 in the anytime market to score on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga campaign for the second straight season.
Mainz finished 12th last term, beating Leipzig 3-2 in January, and will hope for similar if not better in Bo Svensson’s first full season at the helm.
However, 14 of Die Nullfünfer’s players and staff have reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 in the last week and a difficult afternoon beckons.
The away win weighs in at just 20/57 and with Marsh’s men looking set to have it mainly all their own way, a 3-0 away win is 29/4, while 4-0 is 14/1.
Momentum Matters at the RheinEnergieStadion
After finishing 16th and 14th respectively last term, Cologne and Hertha Berlin will be desperate to set the tone for less hectic seasons when they meet in Sunday’s second game.
Steffen Baumgart has been installed as the Billy Goats’ new coach and his side’s hopes could hinge on the fortunes of forward Mark Uth. The 29-year-old is a local boy who scored a decent five goals in 15 games while on loan at his boyhood club in 2019-20 and has now permanently joined from Schalke.
Hertha look to have added well with Suat Serdar and Marco Richter coming in from Schalke and Augsburg, respectively, while experienced duo Kevin-Prince Boateng and Stevan Jovetic have also joined on free transfers.
If they stay fit, both could be vital, but Die Alte Dame’s secret weapon is manager Pal Dardai. After four successful years in charge between 2015 and 2019, the Hungarian returned to rescue their season last term.
Dardai is likely to be without Krzysztof Piatek due to an ankle injury, while Sunday could also come too soon for Matheus Cunha, who has only just returned to training after playing for Brazil at the Olympics.
The 45-year-old’s son Marton could, though, feature in a strong team that should have too much.
Hertha have kept clean sheets on their last four trips to Cologne and look a really good price to win at 7/4, while that outcome to zero suggests real value at 17/4 as they aim to hit the ground running.
*All odds correct at time of writing
