Defeats to Red Bull Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund this weekend have opened the door for Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich to win a ninth consecutive Bundesliga title.
Meanwhile, the stumbles of the big three challengers have given hope of a Champions League place to some less-fancied teams which are running into form. At the other end of the table, things are looking increasingly grim for bottom club Schalke and the relegation pool is shrinking.
Poor form is spreading across the top teams
The three sides which are expected to challenge Die Bayern – Red Bull, BVB and Bayer Leverkusen – have won a sum total of five games over the past six rounds between them, the same number as the team they are trying to chase down.
Leipzig’s two victories from six must be particularly galling for head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who has just watched his side surrender a 2-1 lead to lose to relegation-threatened Mainz.
Had Die Roten Bullen matched Bayern’s form over this six-game period they would now be three points clear at the top, with the Bavarians chasing.
At the turn of the year, Bayer Leverkusen were the form team, but they have all but capitulated, with a single win and a draw to sit alongside four defeats in the last six, and they are still, remarkably, in third place.
Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund’s 4-2 defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday night means they have collected just seven points from the last six games, a return which leaves them in seventh place, outside the guaranteed European places. Erling Braut Haaland scored a brace but Die Fohlen found it all too easy to breach BVB’s defence.
FC Bayern have just watched their three biggest rivals all go on a six-match run which would leave them in lower mid-table, and I bet they can’t believe their luck!
Outside bets can reach the Champions League
While the main challengers are falling over themselves to hand the title to Bayern, Wolfsburg, Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt, in fourth, fifth and sixth, are taking advantage and, in stark contrast, have suffered just two defeats between them over the past six games.
Eintracht, in particular, are in scintillating form with five wins and a draw. They hammered Arminia Bielefeld 1-5 on Saturday as Portuguese striker Andre Silva continued his impressive run of form with a brace. After stints at Sevilla and AC Milan, Silva seems settled in Frankfurt and has scored 14 goals to sit second, alongside Haaland and behind only Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski, in the leading scorers race.
Meanwhile, a goal from wing-back Ridle Baku gave Wolfsburg a 1-0 win away to Leverkusen in a fourth versus third clash, and Monchengladbach swept BVB away with a clinical second-half performance, Marcus Thuram scoring the fourth with a thumping header.
It looks like three from four for the drop
Of course, there are still 16 rounds to play and there is always the likelihood of a mid-table side being sucked into a relegation battle, but the teams currently occupying the bottom three places look to be in serious trouble.
FC Schalke and Mainz are in the automatic relegation spots and in danger of being cut adrift. Though Mainz’ victory over Red Bull might just give Christian Heidl’s team the belief that they can fight their way out of trouble.
Cologne, in the play-off spot, have a difficult game away to Hoffenheim on Sunday night, while the club these three are trying to overhaul is Arminia Bielefeld, newly promoted and making a good fight of their survival bid. Hertha Berlin, level on points with Bielefeld on 17, should have enough quality to climb away.
So at the end of a monumental weekend of Bundesliga 2021 results, Bayern go into their Sunday night match, away to bottom club Schalke, four points clear at the top of the table with their game in hand. Victory, and a seven-point gap, would make things look rather ominous for the chasing back, who watched the champions go on a phenomenal run to win the title in 2019/20.
Schalke have lost five of the last six games and are ten points from safety. Anything other than a Bayern victory would be a major shock, here at SBOTOP we can’t offer more than 1.14 on an away win and the Bundesliga 2021 betting odds on Hansi Flick winning his second title, and Bayern’s 31st, have dropped to an even lower level.
The chasing pack needs to wake up…now!
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