Explore this weekend's exciting football predictions, featuring matches from Bundesliga, Turkish Super Lig, Danish Superliga, and the Premier League, with a special focus on goal-scoring trends and top team performances.
Gladbach v Hoffenheim
Saturday, 2:30pm
As we all know; the Bundesliga generally equals goals, although last weekend did highlight something of a reduction in usual proceedings. It was a 50-50 split between German top-flight games finishing either under or over 2.5 goals across last weekend’s cards, but will that trend continue moving forward? This weekend, Bundesliga sides play the first of three games in a week, something the majority of the league is certainly not used to.
Despite that being the case, I don’t think we need to look too far ahead into the week, and this weekend most teams will have had a full free week to prepare for this one. Gladbach and Hoffenheim are in the top six teams in the league for average goals per league game this season, and there is every chance that trend continues into Saturday afternoon’s clash. An open fixture is expected at Borussia Park, with Gladbach desperate to climb higher up the standings and Hoffenheim eager to maintain their quest for European football.
The hosts are slowly but surely starting to get their act together. Just two defeats in their last eight in all competitions signal a decent enough step in the right direction. A formation change from Gerardo Seoane to a unique 3-3-2-2 system has added a much greater goal threat to the team, although they’ve only kept one clean sheet in that eight-game sequence, too. Hoffenheim have only suffered a defeat to Dortmund on their travels this season, which came in the DFB Pokal, but they too have just the one away clean sheet to their name.
Goals firmly look on the cards here, but I’ll give slight preference to the home side given their recent exploits in front of goal. The first part of the acca is Gladbach Over 1.5 Team Goals, something they’ve managed to do in eight of their previous ten games overall. There is every chance this game ends something quite wild and whacky in terms of score, but I feel this is a safe enough play to get us up and running.
Adana Demirspor v Samsunspor
Saturday, 4pm
The Turkish Super Lig season is 13 matches old this season and already the table has taken up something of a familiar look to it. Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas form the top three in the standings, with the first two sitting joint-top on 34 points, some ten points ahead of their closest challenge. Just below this, you will find Adana Demirspor proudly sitting in fourth under the management of legendary Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert. Last season they qualified for Europe for the first time, but failed to bypass the play-off round of the Europa Conference League. They have much higher ambitions this time around.
They will expect to get three points under their belts on Saturday when struggling Samsunspor make the over 450-mile journey to Adana. The Red Lightning won the 1. Lig title last season but has found life much, much tougher at the highest level. It took them ten attempts to get their first win under their belts this season and would win the next match afterwards too, but they’ve since responded with two slender defeats, making it nine losses from 13 in league action. Furthermore, they have major issues on the road, where they have claimed one point from a possible 21 so far.
Adana also have issues playing away, but thankfully for them, they are the home team this time around. It is clear night and day between their home and away records. They currently hold the strongest home form in the league, winning six and drawing one of their seven assignments in front of their supporters. They’ve conceded only three goals in that time as well, and you can picture how the pattern of play is likely to go in this one. As long as Adana take their chances and isn’t caught out on the break, they should be more than fine here.
I’m surprised you can get prices in the region of 7/10 on the home win here, based on the numbers you’d expect it to be a little shorter. That is fine by me for our acca purposes, and it rates a confident second selection to hopefully keep our hopes alive heading into Sunday!
Brondby v Hvidovre
Sunday, 3pm
Onto Sunday and we venture to Scandinavia with a focus on the Danish Superliga in what is something of a David against Goliath encounter at 3 pm. Brondby is undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in the nation and was largely the dominant force in this league in the 1990s. They’ve only won two titles since that period of dominance however, the most recent being in 2021/21, but they are firmly in the title picture this time around as they go in search of Superliga crown number 12. Hvidovre are playing at this level for the first time since 1997 and find themselves firmly bottom of the table 16 games in. However, they recently got their first win of the season under their belts, and four points from their last two resembles their best run of the campaign.
You would suspect that a two-match unbeaten streak won’t extend to three come full-time on Sunday, should everything play to normal. Football is never as simple as that of course, especially in a league such as this. Brondby might be unbeaten in their last nine in all competitions, but they are enduring a three-game drawing streak, although one came against top side and big rival Copenhagen, and the 3-3 draw at Lyngby last weekend can be upgraded considering they played with ten men since the 31st minute. They won’t want to make it four draws though, and something of a response can be anticipated here right from the very off. They conceded in the 93rd minute last time out after thinking they had won it with an 89th-minute goal of their own, so they’ll be desperate to react positively to that.
Hvidovre therefore could feel the wrath of their superior opponents, just so long as Brondby don’t take their opponents too lightly. Hvidovre does have an away draw to Nordsjaelland to their name when they were flying earlier in the season, so they are capable of digging in, luck could easily be on their side. Brondby have 20 more goals to their name compared to Hvidovre, although focusing purely on Expected Goals (xG) there is only a difference of around 13 between the two teams. Still, Brondby offers more in front of the goal, whilst Hvidovre also top the Expected Goals Against (xGA) tally, too.
Finding the right way to approach this type of game can be challenging, but I have found an angle. Brondby HT/FT looks a nice little bet, especially as they’ve never been behind at HT this season, whilst Hvidovre have never been ahead of HT. It is top against bottom about first-half figures, with Brondby outscoring the opposition 15-4 in this period.
Manchester City v Tottenham
Sunday, 4:30 pm
Arguably the standout Premier League fixture this weekend comes from the Etihad when Manchester City and Tottenham take to the field. Only three points separate the two clubs 13 matches into the campaign, although recent momentum may suggest there is a bigger gap between the two teams heading into Sunday. Spurs’ strong start has been derailed following key injuries and suspensions, meaning they are on a three-match losing run, despite taking the lead in all three. City came from behind themselves impressively on Tuesday to defeat RB Leipzig 3-2 to secure first position in their Champions League group. However, Pep Guardiola won’t rest until his side are number one on all fronts, including the Premier League as Arsenal currently lead the way.
Anyone watching a Tottenham game this season will no doubt be impressed by their major improvement based upon previous years about style of play. The tempo at which they move the ball and their willingness to commit more bodies into attacking areas is the main reason why they’ve scored in every game this season. Clean sheets however aren’t in big supply, and missing key defenders such as Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will surely further open the door for the Citizens to exploit them defensively. A centre-back pairing of Emerson Royal and Ben Davies struggled to contain Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins last time out, so you’d suspect Erling Haaland is relishing this upcoming contest.
Tottenham are also weakened by the continued absences of James Maddison, Ivan Perisic, and Richarlison, whilst Rodrigo Bentancur can be added to that list as soon as he returns from his previous long-term setback. As Ange Postecoglu says himself, he won’t change the way they play for no one, and for all that going forward, they will cause some problems to Man City, you have to fear for them.
City are the appropriate favourites here, but with goals a strong possibility here, and with this starting a quick sequence of games for the two clubs in the run-up to Christmas, I’m happy to swerve the side markets here. I am however willing to dip into the player prop bets though, and Haaland to have Over 1.5 Shots on Target just has to be the play for the final leg of our acca. He will run rings around Royal and Davies with his movement and has indeed hit at least two shots on target in nine of the 12 Premier League games this season when he has played close to 90 minutes.
Weekend Acca Tip
- Gladbach Over 1.5 Team Goals
Adana Demirspor - Brondby/Brondby HT/FT
- Erlin Haaland Over 1.5 Shots on Target
15/2 (Unibet)
