[yogohama]

FIX

Always good to be on the right side of the fix!

[Vaughany]

[TomJSports]

Always good to be on the right side of the fix!

True. But to be honest, I did not see that H96 win coming after BVB got the goal and went into lockdown. Glad it happened though, it single handedly paid for my non-Bundesliga plays.

[TomJSports]

Won Bayern, H96, 1860, 1860/FSV o, and lost Fürth. Doesn't matter who Aachen's coach is, they just love these damn scoreless draws. Bochum continues to sink, too, glad I stayed away.

[Monte]

Any opinions on Vfb -1 next week? Seems low, Hamburg is going nowhere and Stutt. is strong at home..

[TomJSports]

Definitely a favourable line. VfB should be fighting for a continental spot this year, and Hamburg has to do their best to avoid relegation. Hamburg's d woke up against Gladbach, but still lost and were at home. Unless there are big injuries in training, I'd say it's pretty damn safe. Hamburg, with how they've been playing, couldn't win nor draw in Stuttgart.

[TomJSports]

Just one 2.Bundesliga match on the docket for tomorrow: St. Pauli at Karlsruhe. KSC is a squad that seems to be fighting off relegation recently, and St. Pauli is looking to keep up their recent results and get back into the first division. In the 09-10 season, St. Pauli took both games, 2-1 at home, and 4-0 in Karlsruhe. KSC is on a four game losing streak and has allowed 4 goals in each of its past two games and is 9 for and 17 against on the 7 games of the season. St. Pauli is fresh off of its 4-2 win over 1860, and has won 4 of the last five and is 5-1-1 on the year. On the season St Pauli has 14 for and 7 against in 7. So, KSC matches feature an aggregate of 3.71 goals, and St. Pauli games feature 3.0, so basically the o/u of 3 is razor thin. If I had to lean, I'd certainly side with the over. That said, the line on St. Pauli to win is at +105, and I'll be jumping on that. The match just reminds me of Gladbach/Hamburg, and even though Gladbach only won 1-0, that's all it took.

[TomJSports]

Michael Oenning got sacked today as HSV's coach. Can't say I'm surprised. Obviously hate to see people lose their job, but Hamburg has certainly been pathetic this year.

[tullamore21]

So, who you take at tonight's mathcup?

[decado]

Michael Oenning got sacked today as HSV's coach. Can't say I'm surprised. Obviously hate to see people lose their job, but Hamburg has certainly been pathetic this year.

I had Oenning and Solbakken on 'who will be fired first' paper before the season even started.

On a side note: Matthäus got sacked as Bulgarian coach. Coincidence? Will he be joining HSV?

[yogohama]

True. But to be honest, I did not see that H96 win coming after BVB got the goal and went into lockdown. Glad it happened though, it single handedly paid for my non-Bundesliga plays.

Yeah, I almost gave up on it too!
Glad it came through!

[beeps220]

Thanks again for the Budesliga info Tom

Probably my worst league capping, made a few bucks tailing you on these games. St Pauli was a nice one today

[TomJSports]

I had Oenning and Solbakken on 'who will be fired first' paper before the season even started.

On a side note: Matthäus got sacked as Bulgarian coach. Coincidence? Will he be joining HSV?

I was actually thinking the same thing when Matthäus got sacked. He'll be in Bundesliga one day, but I figured he'd start in 2.Bundesliga. Okay, well I guess Hamburg is 2.Bundesliga. Only thing is Cardoso has basically been with Hamburg as a player or coach since the 90s.

[decado]

Rangnick, coach of Schalke 04, has stepped down because of health reasons (burn-out syndrome?). This will definitely affect Schalke's future matches.

[TomJSports]

Yeah, looks like post-viral fatigue syndrome. Basically like chronic fatigue syndrome but exacerbated by a recent infection. Like you said, that will certainly effect Schalke moving forward.

[escou]

They did not look so great lately anyway, according to their results, only some nice games in the very start of the season with modest teams.

[Metanoia]

Schalke is the team i don't get, and that comes from last season, they have very good players, and they just can't seem to play well on a regular basis, it's a team i'm always expecting to see starting to roll but nope, they keep just like last season.

[TomJSports]

Some good games on tap tomorrow. VfB continues their charge up the standings at home against a hapless Hamburg squad. Second tier favourites St. Pauli are also playing a pretty bad Aue side at home. Paderborn and Braunschweig are two other solid choices.

VfB Stuttgart v. Hamburg: Hamburg's poor play has been beaten to death and finally cost Oenning his job. VfB isn't a great team, like years past, but they are certainly better than Hamburg. Stuttgart has a couple of 3-0 home wins against Hannover and Schalke, both of which have better squads than Hamburg. Hamburg on the road has three losses of 3-0, 5-1, 3-1. Mancienne just picked up an injury for Hamburg to join Diekmeier and Guerrero on the sideline. Cardoso, the interim HSV boss, may have to call upon some of his reserve squad boys: Castelen and Lam. VfB, on the other hand is coming in quite healthy. I like the Stuttgart -1 a lot, and maybe the under as Stuttgart isn't the type of squad to poor it on. If you want to still make money on a one goal victory, I think -0.75 is ~-130, whereas the -1 is at EV.

FSV Frankfurt vs. Eintracht Braunschweig: FSV is a mediocre squad at best looking for their first home win and may have to worry about demotion if they continue recent results. Braunschweig is one of the top squads and looking to jump into the promotion conversation. FSV is fresh off of a 4-0 loss against 1860, a comparable team to Braunschweig (and a team Braunschweig beat 3-1 on the opening night). Braunschweig has shown they have the firepower to hit the over, but I'm not 100% sold on it. I do like Braunschweig to win, maybe the PK to be safe with the road team.

Paderborn vs. Ingolstadt: Now I love my Bavarians, but I think Paderborn takes this at home. Poderborn is hurting bad for their first home win (all three wins have been on the road) and Ingolstadt is 0-0-4 on the road. Paderborn is coming off of a confidence-building 4-0 road win, and Ingolstadt is coming off a similar home win, 4-2. The last three Ingolstadt game hit the over, as did Paderborn's last. But Paderborn was coming off of a pair of scoreless draws. All of this leaves this match tough to call. I like Paderborn because Ingolstadt may want a road win, but not as much as Paderborn wants a home win.

St. Pauli vs. Erzgebirge Aue: This match should be another St. Pauli runaway. I'd still consider Aue a solid 2.Bundesliga team, despite this 2 year 3.Liga vacation. St. Pauli, though, has wiped the floor with mediocre squads and lesser squads. I will continue riding a 4-0 at home St. Pauli squad against a winless on the road Aue squad. Aue isn't an over squad at all (though they had a 2-4 outing last), but with St. Pauli, they're four of the last six total and three of the last four at home. So if St. Pauli -1.5 is too much, the o2.5 is a solid bet, too. I like both, as St. Pauli has won by 2 in 3/4 games at home and is, again, against a lesser opponent.

[Daveyboy]

I was actually thinking the same thing when Matthäus got sacked. He'll be in Bundesliga one day, but I figured he'd start in 2.Bundesliga. Okay, well I guess Hamburg is 2.Bundesliga. Only thing is Cardoso has basically been with Hamburg as a player or coach since the 90s.

Not the most popular guy in Germany these days though is he. Plus why would they hire a coach who's just failed at Bulgaria when they probably need someone with experience to give them a bit of stability. Right now they are amongst the relegation candidates.

[TomJSports]

Not really. But yeah, Bulgaria was a fail/fail proposition for him anyway. He'll be back in Germany one day, I think he has the potential for coaching chops. I'm eager to see how Cardoso does, but if he falters, too, Hamburg's not going to concede the season and hunt for a good proven coach to avoid relegation. So I agree with you there.

[TomJSports]

Those were some awesome 2.Bundesliga. FSV/Braunschweig 1-1 draw. Paderborn unfortunately (but fortunate for my bet) wiped the floor with Ingolstadt. And lastly, Aue pulled out a 3-2 shocker at St. Pauli. St. Pauli had the game most of the way 1-0 and just fell apart during a period in the second half falling to 3-1. St. Pauli popped in a 90' goal to make it 3-2, but still lost. At least the over hit.

[TomJSports]

Don't really have much to say on the upcoming matches, as I won't be playing them due to work. I'll miss the entire Bayern game

Take these with a grain of salt, because I haven't looked into them too much. I like Schalke at home against Freiburg for sure, probably -1. I have BVB on upset alert with maybe Mainz pulling it out. Wolves and Lautern, I like the over. Gladbach to win v. Nurnberg. Doubt I would play Ausberg/Hannover. Bayern to beat Bayer; also a match of two good keepers and defenses, so maybe the under, if Bayern doesn't explode for 5 or whatever. Koln and Hoffenheim, over. And I'd probably take Bremen at -1, maybe -1.5, over Hertha Berlin.

[TomJSports]

VfB/Hamburg game turned out more exciting that expected. VfB failed to convert numerous times in the first and only went away with a 1-0 halftime lead, surviving a late Hamburg onslaught. Hamburg continued the tempo and took the lead courtesy of two great Gökhan Töre corners. VfB came in too cocky and then got too down after a Cacau post and numerous close misses in the first. That fueled Hamburg and carried them to the win.

Cardoso got a lot out of the guys he had experience with at the second team, and the team as a whole. Took a bit for them to get going, but they looked pretty good at home. Next week will have more pressure at home, and depending on what Schalke side shows up, a better opponent. Should be a great match next week.

Good luck on your plays the rest of the weekend and see you Sunday or Monday!

[Glada Tartan]

Amazing goal by Hamburg!

[Roxxyfish]

Fortuna Düsseldorf und Borussia Mönchengladbac sind meine Favoriten fürs Wochenende, good luck

[decado]

Fortuna Düsseldorf und Borussia Mönchengladbac sind meine Favoriten fürs Wochenende, good luck

düsseldorf is a fine choice, but i'd not count much on gladbach..

[goblue12]

Big fan of Energie Cottbus +1.5 (-130) at Bodog.

[Roxxyfish]

3-0 Fortuna

Big fan of Energie Cottbus +1.5 (-130) at Bodog.

[Daveyboy]

Don't really have much to say on the upcoming matches, as I won't be playing them due to work. I'll miss the entire Bayern game

Take these with a grain of salt, because I haven't looked into them too much. I like Schalke at home against Freiburg for sure, probably -1. I have BVB on upset alert with maybe Mainz pulling it out. Wolves and Lautern, I like the over. Gladbach to win v. Nurnberg. Doubt I would play Ausberg/Hannover. Bayern to beat Bayer; also a match of two good keepers and defenses, so maybe the under, if Bayern doesn't explode for 5 or whatever. Koln and Hoffenheim, over. And I'd probably take Bremen at -1, maybe -1.5, over Hertha Berlin.

Marco Reus diving for another penalty to secure a 1-0 Gladbach win... typical
Bayern never looked in doubt did they.
I too thought Koln and Hoffenheim would be a goalsfest but Hoffenheim never showed up
Bremen -1.5 against Hertha was asking a lot - Babbel's side are well setup and hard to beat... as they showed with 9 men!

[Daveyboy]

VfB/Hamburg game turned out more exciting that expected. VfB failed to convert numerous times in the first and only went away with a 1-0 halftime lead, surviving a late Hamburg onslaught. Hamburg continued the tempo and took the lead courtesy of two great Gökhan Töre corners. VfB came in too cocky and then got too down after a Cacau post and numerous close misses in the first. That fueled Hamburg and carried them to the win.

Cardoso got a lot out of the guys he had experience with at the second team, and the team as a whole. Took a bit for them to get going, but they looked pretty good at home. Next week will have more pressure at home, and depending on what Schalke side shows up, a better opponent. Should be a great match next week.

Good luck on your plays the rest of the weekend and see you Sunday or Monday!

I can't believe Stuttgart threw it away! Need to practice how to defend set pieces (and how to score)! I've checked the fixtures and I see for a 3rd straight week Stuttgart will be playing on a Friday

[TomJSports]

I unfortunately missed all matches last week aside from that Stuttgart match. That Gökhan Töre kid's corners were beautiful. Look forward to seeing how he and some of the other guys Cardoso brought with him from the second team keep performing.

[TomJSports]

BVB v. Augsburg - Dortmund needs to turn it around and what better way than against Augsburg? Augsburg is still searching for their first win, and they will not find it against the Yellow Wall. I like Dortmund to get out of their funk and win this, so Dortmund -1.5 is my play. They need to make a statement here after the Marseille embarrassment against a bottom three Bundesliga squad. I would say a 2-0 score is a solid bet, but no telling if Dortmund decides to go full embarrassment, so I'd be hesitant on the u3 even though Augsburg is a solid defensive squad. Tonnes of injuries for Dortmund, but same for Augsburg, and BVB simply has the talent to win out by 2+ and needs to make a statement.

Nürnberg v. Mainz 05 - Both teams are relatively fit, and will only be missing a small amount of players this week. And with the teams very close in standings and quality, it is tough to call. Throw in 5/7 overs for M05 and 5/7 unders for FCN and you're left with a very tough match to call. Nürnberg could get the win at home, but anything can happen when two mid-tier Bundesliga teams get together. I probably won't play it, but if I did, I'd look at the draw and the over on the theory of mid-tier Bundesliga teams = overs. So something like 2-2 is likely, but last year in Nürnberg it was 0-0.

Freiburg v. Gladbach - Freiburg has some offensive talent, which can account for their 12 goals, but also have a horrible defense which has allowed a league-high 22 in 7. In comes a Gladbach team that has only scored 9 but has only allowed 3 (second only to Bayern in stinginess). It depends on which team can dictate this game whether it's a goalfest of defensive game. And with that, I go to the sheer quality of Gladbach's defensive game. Like the FCN/M05 match, Gladbach has been under 6/7 and Freiburg over 7/7. I would lean the under because I think Gladbach dictates, but they could also explode for four against a poor side like against Wolfsburg earlier. At any rate, I take Gladbach, especially at +140.

Bayer v. Wolfsburg - I'm still not sold on this Wolfsburg squad, but Bayer is on a sufficiently pathetic run right now. Bayer has bad results at home and Wolfsburg has bad results on the road. Something has to break, right? Bayer does have that 2-0 win over Genk and the Wolves haven't won at BayArena in 14 previous attempts. So I'd give a slight edge to Bayer. But with Marwin Hitz and Sortirios Kyrgiakos, and Aliaksandr Hleb and Thomas Hitzlsperger still not match fit, I may stay away. Wolfsburg is a bad first half team, so maybe something small on Bayer to score/lead in the first if you can find it.

Hoffenheim v. Bayern: Honestly, Bayern is fully healthy and I see this as another easy match. Maybe a draw at worst. Robben will be starting and Badstuber returns to defense, so it's stronger than the side that beat ManCity 2-0. The over 3 is a tricky proposition, but I do think Hoffenheim has the capability to score in this one, not that I think they will, they just merely have the capability. So I do think o3 would be a solid bet, but I will take Bayern -1. I probably won't play it strong, though, because teams on streaks like Bayern's (not conceded a goal in 10 games) are unfortunately overdue for a letdown.

Hertha v. Köln - A very striking stat is: Hertha Berlin conceded at least one goal in 100% of their away matches. Hertha Berlin scored at least one goal in 100% of their away matches. FC Köln conceded at least one goal in 100% of their away matches. FC Köln scored at least one goal in 100% of their away matches. Throw that in with the fact Köln is dressing just 4 defenders due to injury, and I really like the over in this one, maybe enough to be my play of the day. I also like Berlin to win, but not enough to play it. I do expect 2-1 to be the minimum given history and I love Lasogga and Podolski. Watch it end 1-1

[TomJSports]

I already posted my 2.Bundesliga plays.

Cottbus v. St. Pauli - Both teams are great over squads, they allow a tonne and score a tonne. I easily like the over in this one, and if I had to pick a winner, it'd be the home Cottbus side.

Ingolstadt v. Bochum - Both teams have hit overs in their last five. Bochum doesn't have a road win and Ingolstadt is undefeated at home. I'm pretty strong with Ingolstadt and the over.

[The Special One]

youre right, Bayern streak should end soon... DRAW in this game is to be expected

[escou]

Very nice info and write ups thanks Tom