Bundesliga Betting Tips for April 23-25, 2021 – Predictions and Best Bets

German clubs largely escaped the furor and controversy surrounding the formation of a European Super League at the start of the week. Whether that was down to their ownership models or just fortuitous timing for the likes of Bayern Munich, most of the attention focused on the midweek fixtures in the Bundesliga instead.

Bayern now only needs one more victory to win the title again after RB Leipzig surprisingly lost to Koln. But the champions will also need to appoint a new head coach after Hansi Flick finally confirmed that he would be leaving in the summer.

Matchday 31 kicks off on Friday, with Koln taking on Augsburg in a bid to escape relegation. There are seven other games over the weekend – due to Hertha Berlin’s players still isolating – and I will be taking a look at all of them, as well as picking out three of the best bets to consider.

Augsburg failed to score for the fourth time in five games on Tuesday when it lost 2-0 away at Eintracht Frankfurt; the defeat wasn’t a surprise.

A draw against Koln on Friday would help with that as well.

Koln might be thinking that it could take more from this one after the sensational 2-1 victory over RB Leipzig this week. That win just about ended any realistic title challenge for Bayern to fight off and gave Koln renewed hope of escaping the drop. Influential club captain Jonas Hector scored both goals, and his return from injury might turn out to be very timely for the Billy Goats.

Freiburg benefitted from resting, with its game against Hertha postponed in the week due to a coronavirus outbreak at the Berlin club. At this stage of a busy season, that could be enough to give the Black Forest club the chance to take all three points and remain at the top of the table. Consistency has been the problem for Freiburg this year, so another win here would be warmly welcomed.

Hoffenheim was another club that pulled off a surprise victory in the midweek fixtures, as it overcame what had been a resurgent Borussia Monchengladbach. Andrej Kramaric was the main architect of the incredible comeback that saw Hoffenheim win 3-2 after finding itself two down at the break. That exertion might tell on Saturday, though.

Mainz extended its unbeaten run to six games on Wednesday. It overcame Werder Bremen away from home and pulled itself even further away from the relegation zone that it inhabited for most of the season. Bo Svensson has done wonders since taking over at the start of the year – and even a defeat on Saturday shouldn’t ruin Mainz’s chances of staying up now.

Bayern will win its ninth successive Bundesliga title here and give Hansi Flick a going-away present after announcing that he would be leaving the club at the end of the campaign. With Leipzig imploding at the worst possible time, it has been a fairly straightforward end of the season for Bayern. It may even be able to welcome back Robert Lewandowski to the starting lineup, as he has largely recovered from the injury he picked up on international duty.

Union Berlin’s European qualification dream might have ended this week with the 2-0 defeat away at Borussia Dortmund.

Max Kruse will be hoping to score for the first time in five games against a struggling Werder Bremen.

Bremen’s season is going from bad to worse as it fell to a sixth consecutive defeat on Wednesday. The fixture list has not been kind to Florian Kohfeldt’s side, but the home game against Mainz looked to be a chance to give Bremen some breathing space. Unfortunately, the 05ers are enjoying an excellent run of form of their own and came away with a narrow victory. Now Werder Bremen is just four points from safety and playing worse than just about anyone in the league.

After losing back-to-back games for the first time this season, Wolfsburg needed a good result on Wednesday and received just that with a comprehensive 3-1 win away at Stuttgart. Things might have been different if the home side had converted a first-half penalty to level the game. In the end, it was just a consolation goal in injury time for the host as Wolfsburg took all three points and remained in third.

Borussia Dortmund is making a late play for a Champions League spot itself and was able to add three more points to the cause in the week with a 2-0 win at home against Union Berlin. There was a momentary scare when Erling Haaland saw his penalty saved, but Marco Reus turned in the rebound, and Dortmund went on to get the win that keeps it four points behind Frankfurt in fourth. A draw here might put a spanner in the works.

Leverkusen is the club here that is probably in more need of the points on Saturday as it strives to remain in the European places while also making a late run for a top-four finish. The defeat to Bayern on Tuesday left Hannes Wolf‘s side nine points behind this weekend’s opponent. It was also the first time the club had lost under the new manager, so there is still some sense of optimism.

But Frankfurt looks like seeing off the challenge of Leverkusen and Dortmund to take the fourth and final Champions League place – and will know that a win this weekend will go a long to achieve that. A fairly straightforward 2-0 win over Augsburg in the week made up for the thrashing at the hands of Monchengladbach on Saturday – and a win away at Leverkusen would make it very difficult for the Eagles to be caught before the end of the season.

Julian Nagelsmann may well be fielding calls from Bayern Munich over the summer after Hansi Flick announced that he was leaving. The young manager might even be tempted after being frustrated that his Leipzig side has handed the title to the perennial champions this year. The defeat at home to Bayern at the start of April was probably the beginning of the end, but a shock loss at the hands of Koln on Tuesday just about confirms where the shield will end up.

Leipzig missed a string of first-half chances in the game against Koln.

But without Silas, head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side is always going to be second favorite. Defeat here will not diminish from what has been a good season.

It had seemed as though the Foals had gotten over the shock decision of Marco Rose deciding to leave the club for Dortmund in the summer. Four games unbeaten had put Gladbach in with a chance of European qualification – and a two-goal lead away at Hoffenheim on Tuesday suggested that the run was to continue. But three second-half goals for the home side means that Monchengladbach must really fight now to finish in the top six.

That means that Arminia Bielefeld might find its great escape a little more difficult on Sunday. Frank Kramer’s appointment as head coach at the start of March has changed things around. It is enjoying its own four-game unbeaten run now after the victory over hapless Schalke this week. Bielefeld could even afford to miss a penalty, but defeat here will keep the relegation battle going a little longer yet.

There are a few very important games this weekend in the Bundesliga, affecting both the top and bottom of the table. Koln will have been buoyed by its incredible win against Leipzig in the week – and I feel as though that spirit could carry onto Friday to earn another vital point for the Billy Goats.

With Bayern’s title just about sewn up now, the race for the Champions League places is one of the more interesting stories in the Bundesliga. A draw for Wolfsburg against Dortmund will definitely be more useful to the Wolves than Erling Haaland and friends.

My final pick for the weekend games is for Eintracht Frankfurt to upset the odds and win away at Leverkusen. There is no doubt that the home side has improved since the change in management, but Frankfurt has looked very dangerous all season, and it could pick up a crucial victory in the late game on Saturday.