Borussia Dortmund’s home game with Mainz is one of five Bundesliga fixtures taking place on Wednesday. Dortmund may have missed out on the title, but second place is very much within their grasp and a midweek win will edge them closer to finishing the season as runners up to Bayern Munich. Leverkusen, who are just one point clear of fifth-placed Borussia Monchengladbach, can boost their hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League if they can beat Cologne.
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In this article, I will highlight the players that I think are worth rostering, as well as looking at some of the bets offered on DraftKings Sportsbook. For the full list of available bets, download the DraftKings Sportsbook app or check out the DraftKings Sportsbook website.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
Dortmund (-385) can secure second spot by beating Mainz (+900)
When the dust settles on the 2019-20 Bundesliga season, Dortmund will assess where they have to improve in order to close the gap on Bayern Munich. Finishing second is becoming a bad habit to kick and expectations of winning the league will continue to grow. It’s been eight years since Dortmund were last crowned champions and they will want to finish this season on a high note. There were 12 places between the Black and Yellows and Mainz at the end of Matchday 31 and Dortmund will start as heavy favorites in this fixture. Mainz’s No. 1 goal next season will be to ensure they can stay clear of the relegation zone. In the first meeting this season, Dortmund won 4-0 at the Opel Arena with four different scorers. Since then, they have added Erling Braut Haaland ($9,800), who is 11th on the list of Bundesliga scorers despite spending the first half of the season in Austria playing for RB Salzburg. His 11th league goal came when he came off the bench to head the only goal of Saturday’s 1-0 win at Dusseldorf deep into injury time. Haaland, who finished Saturday’s game with 12.5 DKFP, has struggled with a knee injury in recent weeks, but he looks to be back to his best and is a good shot to open the scoring (+250) against Mainz. Another bet to consider is Dortmund winning in a shutout (+148). Eight of their past 10 wins have been to nil just like the first meeting between these two sides in December. Dortmund keeper Roman Burki ($5,900) is one clean sheet behind Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer (13) with three games left to play. He offers value for money, especially if he can keep a clean sheet in this game. None of the Mainz players covered themselves in glory last weekend when they were beaten 1-0 at home to Augsburg. Few of them turned up on their stat sheet so we have to go back to their last away game. Moussa Niakhate ($2,800) scored one of their two goals at Eintracht Frankfurt in their last win, along with Pierre Kunde ($4,000) who did not play last weekend. While this is a different Dortmund side to the one Mainz faced in December, Mainz has also made changes. Robin Zentner, who conceded those four goals, is no longer on the team with Florian Muller ($3,800) holding his place since just before the break for COVID-19.
Prediction: Dortmund to win to nil (+148)
Leverkusen (-195) need to beat Cologne (+450) to keep alive Champions League hopes
As the season draws to a close, the jostling for places to qualify for next season’s Champions League continues. Leverkusen began the week fourth in the standings and in the final spot for Europe’s elite club competition. Now is not the time to slip up and with just one point collected in their past two games, Leverkusen is in need of a win if they are to make it back-to-back seasons playing against the continent’s best clubs. Cologne has nothing to play for, but with no wins in their past seven a victory could ease the pressure on manager Markus Gisdol. Cologne does not have a problem scoring goals. They have done so in their past 17 league games, but it is the issues at the other end that must alarm them. Saturday’s 2-1 loss was the right time in which they allowed their opponents at least one goal. Five of Leverkusen’s past six games have seen “both teams to score” (-210) land and we could well see it occur in this fixture. These two sides have been involved in some high-scoring games since the league returned. There have been a total of 23 goals in the past six matches of both sides, which works out to be an average of 3.8 goals per game. Over 2.5 total goals (-245) has landed Leverkusen’s past three home league games and in 13 of Cologne’s past 14 league encounters.
Kai Havertz ($8,400) will be looking for his 12th league goal of the season when Bayer Leverkusen host Cologne. Seven of those goals have come in his past nine games and he also has three assists in that run of games. Classed as a midfielder, he is scoring points that would put some strikers to shame.
There is a very good chance that both sides will score at least once in this fixture, if recent form is any guide. Leverkusen’s past two encounters have seen both teams to score pay out, while Cologne’s past eight games have seen goals for them and the teams they have been playing. Brazilian Paulinho ($7,400) is doing all he can to earn a spot in the starting XI with two goals and two assists in his past five appearances. Paulinho earned 34.9 points against Eintracht Frankfurt. In the 10 games on either side of that fixture, he scored a total of 33.4 DKFP. Jhon Cordoba ($6,800) left it late to score his third goal in five matches, but his injury-time goal wasn’t enough as Cologne were beaten, 2-1, at home by Union Berlin.
Prediction: Over 2.5 total goals (-245)
Other players to consider for DFS Showdowns If Andre Silva ($7,200) doesn’t start for Eintracht Frankfurt after his performance in their 4-1 win at Hertha Berlin on Saturday, then you have to wonder what he has to do. Starting on the bench after scoring four goals in his previous six matches, Silva came off the bench to score twice and set up another goal for Bas Dost ($6,100) to earn the Portuguese star 35.4 DKFP. Dost himself is in good form with an assist in his previous away game and against struggling Schalke, he could have a big game. Daichi Kamada ($6,500) scored 16.1 DKFP against Hertha thanks to an assist to raise his profile slightly ahead of this contest. I said it a few weeks ago, but the end of the season really cannot come soon enough for Schalke, who are now without a win in their past 13 games. None of their players are showing any real form other than Daniel Caligiuri ($7,600). The midfielder has followed up his haul of 16.5 DKFP against Union Berlin with 16.6 against Leverkusen. Florian Niederlechner ($7,100) ended his 10-game goal drought last weekend when he scored the only goal of the game in the first minute as Augsburg beat Mainz, 1-0. The striker will be hoping to score in back-to-back games for the first time since January when Augsburg faces Hoffenheim. In the reverse fixture, Augsburg won 4-2 thanks to a couple of goals from Philipp Max ($8,600). Max likes to get forward and he could be a player worth drafting, especially with his delivery from the wings. Since the league restarted, he has 38 crosses to his name and has sent in 19 corners. Robert Skov ($7,800) scored for Hoffenheim that day and after starting last weekend’s game on the substitute’s bench, he will hope to start and add to the goal and two assists he had in his past four starts.
Dusseldorf’s 1-0 defeat to Dortmund on Saturday will have left emotional scars given the only goal came in the last meaningful action of the game in injury time. It was a cruel way for the side battling to avoid relegation to lose. Maybe the result would have been different had Rouwen Hennings ($5,300) started the game following his two goals the previous week. But he and his colleagues can take their frustrations out on RB Leipzig, which beat Hoffenheim with two goals in three first-half minutes. Both goals came from Dani Olmo ($6,100), which will have raised his profile coming into this fixture. Usually when a player scores, the next manager to face him has a plan to mark him out of the game. Teammate Marcel Sabitzer ($8,200) set him up beautifully for his second goal in what was a productive evening for the midfielder, who will look to get forward as often as he can when Dusseldorf visits the Red Bull Arena. When he is called upon to defend, he can do that just as effectively, as his three clearances showed last weekend.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is CharliePMullan) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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