Bundesliga preview

Bayern Munich & Stuttgart Fight for Champions League Rights
Bayern Munich face what could be a critical game in the club's history on Saturday. Having been dumped out of this season's Champions League they face a battle to qualify for next season. Currently in fourth position in the Bundesliga, Munich travel to Stuttgart's Gotlieb Daimler Stadion looking to leap-frog VFB into the third Champions League spot. FCB have competed in ten successive Champions League competitions so failure to qualify for next season would signify the end of an era, and bring significant financial consequences. Pope Benedict XVI is a fan of the club, so could well be praying for a fourth straight league win.

Stuttgart have tasted Champions League football once before in 2004, and will be desperate to get back among Europe's elites. It would be even sweeter to achieve that at the expense of Germany's biggest football institution. Die Schwaben made a terrible start to the campaign losing their opening two home games, but since then have been unbeaten in front of their own fans, a 13 game sequence, which has also taken them to the semi-finals of the German Cup. Stuttgart's excellent form might help the club reverse a poor trend against Bayern Munich, having won just one of the seven previous encounters, and they will be without left back Arthur Boka, suspended for the remainder of the season. That trend may have swayed PinnacleSports.com to make Munich slight favourites 2.140 (0/scratch & -0.5) with Stuttgart 1.806 (0/scratch & +0.5).

Royal Blues Look to Keep Challengers at Bay
Schalke have responded well to their defeat at the Allianz Arena on the last day of March, by winning the next two Bundesliga fixtures without conceding and finding the net five times. Kevin Kuranyi and Gerald Asamoah have found the net in both games, while Brazilian midfielder, Lincoln, completed a 3-0 rout away to Mainz last weekend that maintained the Royal Blues' two point lead at the top of the league.

Mirko Slomka's side now have a home game against Energie Cottbus, who have climbed to mid-table on the back of an excellent run. Cottbus have won five of their last seven games, scoring six times in their last two outings. Sergio Radu opened the scoring in both those successes and has now scored 12 league goals. Though Energie only have an outside chance of a UEFA Cup place, in their current form they will be a handful for Schalke. Nevertheless PinnacleSports.com make Schalke strong favourites, 1.952 (-1.5) with Energie Cottbus 1.971 (+1.5).

Werder Expecting Battle From Struggling Aachen
Should Schalke slip up, Werder Bremen could move to top of the Bundesliga with a win at home to Alemania Aachen. It's good news for Bremen that Miroslav Klose looks to be coming into form at just the right time. Klose followed a double in the UEFA Cup by scoring his first Bundesliga goal for eight matches, in last weekend's win at Dortmund. On the down side, Tim Borowski's comeback was very short-lived, and he is joined on the injury list by defender, Patrick Owomoyela.

Bremen are favourites with PinnacleSports.com for Friday's game 1.870 (-1.5) with Aachen 2.06 (+1.5), but will expect a bruising. The Potato-Beetles received six yellow cards and a red in last week's 1-0 lose at Nurnberg, which might be a show of desperation as it completed a hat-trick of defeats. The side are just three points above the drop with a worse goal difference than the two sides below them.

60% better Bundesliga odds at PinnacleSports.com!

1.96/1.96 style pricing (c.102%) on the major European Football Leagues gives gamblers up to 60% better Bundesliga odds. PinnacleSports.com offers commission-free fixed odds betting with exchange style pricing, as well as the web's highest guaranteed liquidity and fastest payouts.

Get a 10% sign-up bonus, 7% cash back on US horse bets and the best odds on all major sports.

Find a Smarter Way To Bet at PinnacleSports.com

Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!