Ingolstadt vs Werder Bremen
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Today’s free tip is in the German Bundesliga 2 encounter between Ingolstadt and Werder Bremen.
At long last, Werder Bremen have done some good transfer business. I was beyond concerned at how many good players they were losing without replacing them to the point whereby I was convinced that a mid-table spot was the best that they could hope for this season.
However, they’ve finally done some good business, and I do mean ‘good business’. Loaning Weiser as the new Augustinsson – superb choice. Lots of experience. Loaning Assale as their new live wire in attack – excellent choice. Needs to have fitness monitored, but a natural match-winner and his directness at this level is very welcome for a rather predictable attack. Ducksch – more of a signing to get the team out of the division as he’s a solid target man. He won’t do anything if they get promoted, but he’s a short-term signing, and a risk-free one at that. These are all excellent signings in big weak spots for Bremen, and I am pleased with them.
Even with Bittencourt still injured, there’s still enough on the park for the visitors to win in Bavaria today. Fullkrug, Assale, and Ducksch will dominate at this level; scoring goals is not going to be a problem for Anfang’s men. Creating is going to be interesting because they don’t have much depth there. Schmid is proven in the field, but not many others are. Luckily, Bremen have lots of support from marauding full-backs (or wing-backs, formation depending), and they’re able to overload teams well with this group, and punish them accordingly.
No, I still don’t trust Bremen defensively. Toprak is seldom fit nowadays, and even when he is, he appears to enjoy meaty challenges more than winning the ball. Most of their centre-backs struggle to stay fit, to be honest – that’s a problem. Zetterer in goal – that’s also a problem. Keeping teams out is going to be a large bugbear for Bremen, as ever. However, I think that their attack is now good enough to win them most matches in the Bundesliga 2 so a promotion push is possibly back on the cards after all.
I don’t think they’ll pass up on the opportunity to pick up points in Ingolstadt either. The home team haven’t played badly at all since promotion, as it goes, but haven’t had the quality when it mattered the most. They’ve been horribly at fault for almost all of the goals they’ve conceded this season, and their lack of ruthless finishing has hurt them. I remember watching their win in Sandhausen prior to the international break, and although it was nice to see them have luck on their side for a change, it was just luck, you know? Sandhausen gave silly goals away and didn’t punish them in a bit of a role reversal. Ingolstadt hadn’t turned a corner or anything; they still gave too many chances away.
Let me put it like this; if Ingolstadt play against Bremen like they did in Sandhausen, they’ll lose – and it will be very straightforward for the visitors. As much as I admire the football that Ingolstadt play, it’s just not very effective. They look mentally resolute, which I like. They are unafraid of opponents, which I also like. However, at no stage does this team ever look capable of keeping teams out, and they’re nowhere near consistent enough in front of goal. These things are going to hurt them this season, and that’ll be the case until they make the necessary changes in January.
To be fair to them, there’s scope for things to change before then; they did make some late signings before the transfer window closed, bringing in target man Schmidt from Heidenheim, defender Poulsen from Gladbach, and midfielder Gebauer from Arminia Bielefeld. I’ll sit on the fence with regard to judging any of them for now. However, even if they all turn up and play marvellously, my opinion is still that Ingolstadt are simply out of their depth against a Bremen side that has rediscovered a sense of balance and effectiveness.
Therefore, the away win at 9/10 is a must here.
Verdict: Werder Bremen to win at 9/10.
Saturday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Austrian Bundesliga:
WSG Tirol vs Salzburg
Rapid Vienna vs Admira Wacker
Wolfsberger AC vs Hartberg
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
AS Eupen vs Antwerp
Zulte-Waregem vs Cercle Brugge
Brazilian Serie A:
America Mineiro vs Athletico Paranaense
Juventude vs Cuiabá
RB Bragantino vs Chapecoense
Santos vs Bahia
Bulgarian A PFG:
Ludogorets Razgrad vs Cherno More Varna
CSKA Sofia vs Slavia Sofia
Croatian Prva Liga:
Dinamo Zagreb vs Sibenik
Rijeka vs Slaven Koprivnica
Czechia Liga 1:
Pardubice vs Slovan Liberec
Zlin vs Bohemians 1905
Teplice vs Banik Ostrava
Viktoria Plzen vs Sparta Prague
English Premier League:
Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur
Arsenal vs Norwich City
Brentford vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Manchester United vs Newcastle United
Southampton vs West Ham United
Watford vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Trans Narva vs Tulevik
Nomme Kalju vs Kuressaare
Finnish Veikkausliiga:
Inter Turku vs HJK
KuPS vs SJK
FC Honka Espoo vs KTP
Ilves vs FC Lahti
HIFK vs AC Oulu
Haka Valkeakoski vs IFK Mariehamn
Finnish Ykkonen:
VPS vs PK-35 Helsinki
KPV vs Jippo Joensuu
Jaro Pietarsaari vs MP
French Ligue 1:
Paris Saint-Germain vs Clermont Foot 38
AS Monaco vs Olympique de Marseille
German Bundesliga:
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
Union Berlin vs Augsburg
SC Freiburg vs Koln
TSG Hoffenheim vs Mainz 05
Greuther Furth vs VfL Wolfsburg
RB Leipzig vs Bayern Munich
German Bundesliga 2:
Karlsruher SC vs Holstein Kiel
Hannover 96 vs St. Pauli
Ingolstadt vs Werder Bremen
Hamburger SV vs SV Sandhausen
Hungarian Liga 1:
Budapest Honved vs Ferencvaros
Paksi SE vs MTK Budapest
Mezokovesd-Zsory vs Fehervar
Icelandic PepsiMaxDeild:
IA vs Leiknir Reykjavik
Keflavik vs KR
KA vs Fylkir Reykjavik
Vikingur Reykjavik vs HK
Breidablik Kopavogur vs Valur Reykjavik
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Ironi Kiryat Shmona vs Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Maccabi Netanya vs Hapoel Nol HaGalil
Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs Maccabi Petah Tikva
Maccabi Haifa vs Bnei Sakhnin
Italian Serie A:
Empoli vs Venezia
SSC Napoli vs Juventus
Atalanta Bergamo vs ACF Fiorentina
Italian Serie B:
Alessandria vs Brescia
Como vs Ascoli
Frosinone vs Perugia
SPAL vs Monza
Ternana vs Pisa
Crotone vs Reggina
Lithuanian A Lyga:
Dziugas Telsiai vs Suduva Marijampole
Nevezis vs FK Panevezys
Dutch Eredivisie:
FC Twente Enschede vs FC Utrecht
PEC Zwolle vs AFC Ajax Amsterdam
Cambuur Leeuwarden vs Go Ahead Eagles
AZ Alkmaar vs PSV Eindhoven
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Lillestrom vs Brann Bergen
Stabaek vs Viking Stavanger
Portuguese Liga 1:
Pacos de Ferreira vs Sporting Braga
Santa Clara vs SL Benfica
Sporting Clube de Portugal vs FC Porto
Portuguese Liga 2:
Feirense vs Academica de Coimbra
SL Benfica II vs Sporting Covilha
Romanian Liga 1:
Arges vs U Craiova 1948
Botosani vs CFR Cluj
Russian Premier League:
Lokomotiv Moscow vs Krylya Sovetov Samara
Zenit St. Petersburg vs Akhmat Grozny
Spartak Moscow vs FK Khimki
Spanish Primera Liga:
Levante vs Rayo Vallecano de Madrid
Athletic Club vs Real Mallorca
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Sirius vs Ostersunds FK
Malmo FF vs IFK Norrkoping
Swiss Super League:
Luzern vs Grasshopper Zurich
Young Boys Bern vs FC Zurich
Swiss Challenge League:
FC Wil vs FC Thun
Winterthur vs Neuchatel Xamax
Turkish Super Lig:
Fatih Karagumruk vs Adana Demirspor
Konyaspor vs Altay
Besiktas JK vs Yeni Malatyaspor
Kayserispor vs Kasimpasa
Enjoy your free betting tips!