As we approach the final days of 2023, it’s all quiet on the Bundesliga front.
But it won’t be for long.
For there is little time to rest during a brief winter break and, with the January transfer window almost upon us, the relentless world of top-level football rarely sleeps.
Study the SBOTOP Bundesliga betting odds and you will see few surprises.
For champions Bayern Munich remain favourites for a 12th straight title and the Bavarians remain the team to beat.
In fact, they are so far ahead in the odds that RB Leipzig – a club making great strides but not title contenders – the impressive Stuttgart and last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund are barely in the mix,
As for the latter, their chance has come and gone for now following the devastation they experienced on the final day of last season which will likely take some time to recover from.
Bundesliga highlights will return on January 12 when Bayern host Hoffenheim to kick off a full weekend of fixtures.
And with Harry Kane leading their charge, with 21 league goals and five assists in just 15 games to date, how can you back against them?
A word also for Lois Openda whose 11 goals in 16 league appearances for Leipzig is a good return and puts him well on course to beat the record set by the man he replaced, Christopher Nkunku, whose joint-league-leading total of 16 strikes last season persuaded Chelsea to part £52 million.
Back to the England captain though and he is the first player in Bundesliga history to net 21 goals in his first 15 games, smashing the previous record set by Erling Haaland, who needed 22 games to reach that mark.
Even when Robert Lewandowski scored a record 41 Bundesliga goals in 2020-21 for Bayern, he was on 20 goals after 15 games.
Including the second half of last season with Spurs, Kane has scored 38 league goals in 2023, four above second-placed Kylian Mbappe in Europe’s top five leagues.
With five assists included, Kane has been involved in 26 Bundesliga goals this season, as many as the player with the most goal involvements in the whole of last season, Randal Kolo Muani.
That is why you cannot look past Bayern to reclaim the crown.
And with their own own run of home games in which they have scored at least one goal still ongoing and now stretching to 64 games – one short of setting a new club record – the chances are there is much more to come.
Yet let’s not just focus on the Bavarians who, it must be remembered, are not actually the league leaders.
That honour goes to Bayer Leverkusen who have won 13 and drawn three of their 16 matches in the first half of the campaign.
A multifaceted, attack-minded side, Leverkusen have never won the German title and, however the adventure ends, the side from North Rhine-Westphalia have given fans plenty of entertainment.
The dream could become a reality though if their second half of the season matches the first.
For, since beginning of the season in August, Leverkusen have yet to taste defeat. They are 25 games without loss across all competitions, winning 22 – while their unblemished start to the Bundesliga has them four points clear at the top of the standings, albeit with second-placed Bayern having played one game fewer.
The impetus has been led by manager Xabi Alonso who not only has his side passing the ball around with ease and dominating opponents with spectacular success, but also scoring aplenty.
Die Werkself have only failed to score less than three goals in one of their first eight matches of the season – and that was a highly respectable 2-2 draw against Bayern.
The summer signings have surpassed expectations, led by Victor Boniface whose 10 goals and seven assists in his first 16 Bundesliga appearances, not to mention four successive Rookie of the Month awards, is mighty fine.
Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has used his experience to pull the strings at the base of a mean midfield, while Alejandro Grimaldo has been a revelation at left-back – most noticeably for his ability to thump in stunning free-kicks.
With Florian Wirtz bamboozling defences week-in, week-out and Patrik Schick smashing a hat-trick on his first start in 14 months as Leverkusen signed off for 2023 with a 4-0 win against Bochum, things are looking rosy.
Can it be maintained? if so, we could be in for a thrilling second half of the season in the Bundesliga. Watch this space!
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