Both Hamburg and Leverkusen to score in round opener

The best bet of the 29th round of German Bundesliga matches is a punt on both teams to score in the opening game between Hamburg and Leverkusen at the Imtech Arena on Friday.

With six rounds of the German Bundesliga season remaining it is now or never for Hamburg, which is two positions and two points adrift of safety. Hamburg’s form has not improved a great deal since Mirko Slomka became its manager in the middle of February and relegation is looking likely as its last three home opponents are all ranked in the top five and its last three away opponents are seventh, eighth and 13th.

Hamburg really has to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at Leverkusen on Friday in an attempt to register what would be its seventh German Bundesliga victory and apply pressure to the likes of Braunschweig, Nurnberg and Stuttgart ahead of their weekend matches versus Hannover, Monchengladbach and Freiburg respectively. Time is running out for Hamburg and its defensive record – 59 goals conceded in 28 German Bundesliga games – means that it cannot play cautiously.

Leverkusen has been in woeful form for most of the second half of the German Bundesliga term. Leverkusen has won just one of its last 11 matches across all competitions, which is a remarkable statistic for a side that is placed fourth on the German Bundesliga ladder and occupies a UEFA Champions League qualification spot. Leverkusen has not been winning because it has not kept a clean sheet in those 11 games.

The first German Bundesliga meeting of the season between Hamburg and Leverkusen resulted in a 5-3 home win for the latter so the head-to-head record supports the bet, as do these numbers: both teams have scored in four of Hamburg’s last five matches and each of Leverkusen’s last six games.

BetVictor is offering odds of 1.62 that both Hamburg and Leverkusen scores in the curtain raiser to round 29 of the German Bundesliga competition. That makes more appeal than the odds of 1.75 with the same bookmaker about over two and a half goals because Leverkusen is not one of the German Bundesliga’s over sides in what is a high-scoring division.

Teams do not have to be odds against to represent value and one cannot comprehend why German Bundesliga champion Bayern Munchen is trading at odds of 1.36 with BetVictor to beat Augsburg. Maybe it is because Bayern’s trip to Augsburg is a short one for what is one of the major Bavarian derbies. But on all known form there is value in Bayern at that quote.

Bayern Munchen has won 25 and drawn three of its 28 German Bundesliga matches, including a 3-0 home defeat of Augsburg in November. One needs to be in tip-top form to test Bayern these days and Augsburg’s recent results do not bode well for its game versus FC Hollywood. Augsburg has picked up just one point from its last four German Bundesliga matches, losing at home to Leverkusen and Schalke in that period. And everyone knows that Bayern is better than those two teams.

Finally, Dortmund and Wolfsburg should be an entertaining German Bundesliga game to watch so have a bet on both sides scoring at odds of 1.62 with Ladbrokes and Stan James.

Dortmund’s enterprising style means that, even though it is second on the German Bundesliga ladder, it affords a lot of chances to its opponents at home and on the road, while both teams have scored in each of Wolfsburg’s last 10 matches and 14 of its last 15 games across all competitions.

Wolfsburg beat Dortmund 2-1 in the reverse German Bundesliga match between the sides, while both teams have scored in each of the last five meetings dating back to 2011.