SATURDAY IN EUROPE: The Ultra previews Saturday’s matches between EINTRACHT FRANKFURT v BAYER LEVERKUSEN, RB LEIPZIG v HERTHA BERLIN and ATHLETIC BILBAO v ATLETICO MADRID all with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT V BAYER LEVERKUSEN
2.30pm It might not be the most blockbuster Saturday around Europe, but as always we have an intriguing day ahead from a betting point of view on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. Saturday’s action comes from the Bundesliga and La Liga, and we start with a very open market in the Bundesliga as Eintracht Frankfurt host Bayer Leverkusen. It’s fair to say that neither of these sides will be happy with their start to the season, and from that point of view this is a very important fixture. Eintracht Frankfurt will be the happier as they started the weekend sitting in 8th, but Bayer Leverkusen have had a woeful start to the season – they started the weekend sitting in 15th just outside the relegation zone and that was after winning last weekend too. Frankfurt actually finished down in 11th last season after they put a lot of focus on the Europa League so while they would like to push for a European spot this season this isn’t an unfamiliar position for them. The fall from Leverkusen has been dramatic given they finished in third last season – what is it with these Bundesliga clubs who yo-yo up and down the table? Although Leverkusen finally got a win last weekend, it did come at home to Schalke which obviously isn’t a very high standard of opposition either. This game will be fascinating.
It’s no surprise that we have a very open market here – Bayer Leverkusen come into the game as marginal favourites but there isn’t much in it. Eintracht Frankfurt had a difficult away fixture midweek in the Champions League, but Bayer Leverkusen had to play on the same night against Porto. I think the most disappointing thing from a Leverkusen point of view is that when you look at the xG table they don’t even shoot up that so their performance level actually hasn’t been that far off where they are. Frankfurt have been pretty solid in that sense, and the draw does make appeal here at 3.85. Although I don’t want to lay Leverkusen, it’s hard to make the case that they should be shorter than 2.53. Leverkusen have been playing a very open game this season though, and Over 2.5 goals looks a nice position here at 1.69 to start the day – I couldn’t put anyone off the draw here at an appealing 3.85 but I can see plenty of goals in this one.
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.69 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/EinLev
RB LEIPZIG V HERTHA BERLIN
5.30pm We stay in the Bundesliga next as RB Leipzig host Hertha Berlin. RB Leipzig are another side that have started the Bundesliga season very slowly – they did the same thing last season but finished strongly with a good mid-season run to get a top four finish – I feel they have given themselves a lot to do this season, but they aren’t too far away. They are only four points behind Dortmund in fourth to start the weekend for example, but the worry is that there are a lot of sides between them and the top four. While Hertha Berlin had to play the relegation playoff last season, they have made a more positive start to this season. They arrive into this fixture unbeaten in five and although four of those fixtures finished a draw they aren’t playing too badly. In that run they have created xG figures of 2.37, 2.74, 0.42, 0.88 and 1.36. Obviously nothing very impressive there but you have to consider Hertha Berlin are playing at a pretty average level. Despite their positive run, they still started the weekend in 14th position not too far away from the bottom three. With Bayer Leverkusen just behind them you’d expect them to overtake them – in fairness it was always probably going to be Hertha Berlin, Schalke, Stuttgart and Bochum in the bottom four this season. I’d say it’s going to be very competitive too as to who goes down.
On paper RB Leipzig should win here; but you can’t knock the run of Hertha and they will come here with confidence too. While I feel RB Leipzig will get the win, they do look priced correctly at 1.44. It’s hard to make the case that they should be shorter and I’m happy to look elsewhere for value. The bet that stands out for me here is Over 2.5 goals at 1.59. Hertha have been playing a very open game this season – they have had two 2-2 draws in that four game run of draws, while RB Leipzig’s games have been packed with goals. They have also been conceding sloppy goals so I wouldn’t rule out Hertha finding the net at some stage too. It’s clear that RB Leipzig have improved in recent weeks when you look at their xG figures but they have had an easy fixture list – obviously they met Celtic in the Champions League twice and then smashed four past Bochum to start that run. I feel Over 2.5 goals is a much better option than the home win here anyway, and 1.59 is nice value.
The Ultra Says:
Three points win Over 2.5 goals at 1.59 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/RblHer
ATHLETIC BILBAO V ATLETICO MADRID
8pm We move to La Liga to finish the evening as Athletic Bilbao host Atletico Madrid. We’ve all saw the struggles of Sevilla in La Liga this season, and that has definitely opened up a spot in the top four. I feel Athletic Bilbao will come up short as the season goes on but for the time being they can dream anyway as they started this weekend sitting in third place. Although we’ve only had eight games, Sevilla actually sat in the bottom three at the start of the weekend so they have a huge task to get back into the top four mix. It seemed the top four in La Liga was on lock but someone is going to break into that fourth spot this season! This should be a good game – Atletico are actually one point behind Athletic Bilbao at the moment, and they will be looking at this weekend as a chance to close the gap on Barcelona and Real Madrid who meet in El Clasico on Sunday. Atletico have already dropped plenty of points with two losses already this season, and while they aren’t fully out of the title race because it’s so early, they definitely have one foot out. It’s not a surprise to have an open market here, but it might surprise some football fans to see Athletic Bilbao favourites.
Athletic Bilbao are trading 2.52 at the time of writing, with Atletico Madrid 3.15 while the draw is 3.3. I know Athletic Bilbao have home advantage, but that does feel a little short to me. It’s not like they finished in the top four last season on home form or anything, and Atletico are generally good away from home too. I would personally have the sides a little closer in the market – indeed we could even have the magical 3.0 on all three outcomes here! While Bilbao have had an impressive start to the season, they have had an easy fixture list. They haven’t any of the major sides, they played Sevilla last weekend but we know how poorly Sevilla are playing this season. I feel we’ll see a very close game here, but from a value point of view I’m very happy to be against Bilbao at the odds. Atletico are unbeaten away from home in La Liga this season, and their xG figures away have been good too – they have created 1.31, 1.90, 2.11 and 2.06. They can get a result here, and the 2.52 is a nice lay on Bilbao.
The Ultra Says:
Three points lay (liability) Athletic Bilbao to beat Atletico Madrid at 2.52 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/AthAtl
