Six weeks into the new Bundesliga season and things are beginning to take shape; and when we’re back from the international break there are some tasty clashes to look forward to.
Fifth placed Bayer Leverkusen at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, currently in third, on Saturday is an eye-catching fixture, and the 2024 champions could really do with winning that match if they are to stamp some authority on the current campaign.
The latest Bundesliga 2024 betting odds suggest this could be the most exciting title race in years, though Leverkusen fans will find it hard to believe that 2023/24 could be somehow bettered. Okay, Vincent Kompany’s Bayern Munich are clear favourites to win back the title, but at SBOTOP odds of 4.40 Die Werkself are very serious contenders, with Red Bull Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund also in the frame.
After six games, just four points separate joint leaders FC Bayern and Leipzig from seventh placed Dortmund, with Leverkusen three off the top of the Bundesliga table. And, while Kompany made a great start as Bayern boss, the Bavarians are without a win in three in all competitions and have picked up two points from their last two league games, after winning the first four. Two weeks ago Die Werkself held Bayern to a 1-1 draw in Leverkusen then, after Aston Villa beat Kompany’s men in the Champions League, last week the favourites drew away to Eintracht Frankfurt.
They are not going to run away with it.
Alonso’s edge
While his Bundesliga 2024 results so far have been good but not spectacular; one huge advantage Xabi Alonso has over his competitors is that he has already won the Bundesliga, and in spectacular style, going the whole league season unbeaten. They won’t repeat that feat this year, losing 3-2 at home to Leipzig on the second week of the campaign, but the team which romped to the title last term is still intact and committed to taking Leverkusen forward. That is testament to Alonso’s vision, motivation and man management skills, and he combines those with technical excellence and a brilliant strategic brain.
Kompany had a wonderful career as a player with Manchester City and Belgium, but he still has much to prove as a manager. After two seasons as boss of Belgian side Anderlecht he joined Burnley and led the Clarets to a record breaking Championship winning season. But it all went wrong when Burnley returned to the Premier League and they won just five games, with an expensively assembled squad of young potential and, after trying to play like Manchester City for much of the campaign the manager failed to successfully execute a Plan B. So eyebrows were raised, in both Bavaria and East Lancashire, when Bayern Munich came calling.
Red Bull manager Marco Rose led BVB to a second place finish in 2022 while Nuri Sahin is another coach with huge potential but he is unproven and inexperienced. You might have said the same of Alonso a couple of years ago…but not now. And he has a team who know how to win a championship too.
The Wirtz factor
Leverkusen won huge admiration and legions of new fans across Europe last season for their determination in wrestling the Bundesliga title away from Munich and for the way they did it, playing a superb brand of football with a perfect blend of style and steel. And on the flair side of the game there is none more impressive than 21 year old attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, who has morphed from a youngster with huge potential to becoming one of the best and most sought after talents in European football. He’s already played 115 games for Die Werkself, scoring 29 goals and he has 27 caps for Germany, as one of the best players at Euro 2024.
A versatile player who can operate out wide or through the middle, Wirtz is dynamic, attack minded and supremely skilful with the eye for a killer pass and he loves to take a shot at goal when he sees that as the best option. Mature beyond his years, Wirtz is valued at 130m Euros and, while Europe’s biggest clubs would love him on their books he has plenty of development opportunity in Leverkusen, and the chance for more trophies, and Alonso is confident he will stay until the 2026 World Cup at least.
In a team which boasts midfield enforcer Granit Xhaka, highly rated centre back Jonathan Tah and powerful striker Victor Boniface this is a club to be reckoned with; but Wirtz is the jewel in the Werkself crown.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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