Two weeks into the Bundesliga season, the division is still to settle down, with 18 thrilling games producing 54 goals.
Some of the big names are struggling, with Borussia Monchengladbach 16th, while Wolfsburg top the pile as the only team to have won both of their games.
Die Wolfe on the Hunt
After finishing fourth last season, Wolfsburg have made a storming start to their campaign, beating Bochum and Hertha Berlin to top the standings.
Sunday’s success at the Olympiastadion was particularly pleasing as they were forced to come from behind with Ridle Baku and Lukas Nmecha striking late to seal a 2-1 victory. Die Wolfe will again need to raise their level on Sunday against sixth-placed RB Leipzig.
Hoffenheim, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Freiburg all sit on four points, with the latter’s 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday especially impressive.
However, with things still in flux, it is no surprise that Bayern are the 1/5 favourites to win a 10th straight domestic title, with Dortmund 6/1.
Worries for Gladbach and Hertha
Adi Hutter is still to get things going at Borussia Monchengladbach. Die Fohlen’s form dropped off after it was confirmed Marco Rose would be heading to Dortmund last February and while there were signs of potential in the opening draw against Bayern, Gladbach were woeful as they were slammed 4-0 by Leverkusen on Saturday.
They need a pick-me-up on Sunday when they head to Union Berlin, where they are 8/5 to win, and speaking of clubs from the capital, Hertha are really struggling.
Pal Dardai’s return last season signalled an upturn in form and they looked to have the potential to kick on after some clever work in the transfer market.
However, they have flopped to defeats to Cologne and Wolfsburg and things don’t look like they are going to get any easier as they are 12/1 to win on Saturday evening at Bayern.
Haaland to Hurt Hoffenheim
Looking ahead to the headline games in the third round of fixtures and Friday’s at Signal-Iduna-Park stands out as Borussia Dortmund host Hoffenheim. After winning their opener 5-2 against Eintracht Frankfurt, Der BVB’s progress has stalled, losing the Super Cup 3-1 to Bayern before going down to Freiburg.
Meanwhile, Hoffenheim were 4-0 winners at Augsburg before drawing 2-2 with Union. It was also 2-2 when these two met last term in North Rhine-Westphalia and a repeat is 16/1.
Rose is still to tighten his side’s back-line, but he does have Erling Haaland to rely on. The Norwegian netted twice against Frankfurt and could be the key ingredient in what could prove to be a home win and both teams to score at 29/20.
Goals Expected at Volkswagen Arena
The other game to look for over the weekend is that clash between Wolfsburg and Leipzig on Sunday. As mentioned above, Die Wolfe have been perfect so far, while Die Bullen bounced back from an opening 1-0 defeat at Mainz by smashing Stuttgart 4-0.
New Leipzig boss Jesse Marsch looks set to emulate his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann by bringing plenty of excitement to the Red Bull Arena.
Both games between these two finished 2-2 last term and a repeat is 13/1, while over 3.5 goals is 37/20.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
