German Bundesliga Week 27 Tipping

This week German Bundesliga has reached the 27th week of the season. Title race is further heated up after VfL Wolfsburg beated Bayern München 5-1 and climbed up to the top. There are only 3 points different between 1st to 4th so this is still everybody's game. No Friday match this week as Germany celebrate the Good Friday. Now here's the tipping of this week:

Borussia Mönchengladbach (16th) vs VfL Wolfsburg (1st) - Saturday: Gladbach last week did not perform very well as they drew against Karlsruher 0-0. The match showed how important Marko Marin is as he was suspended last match. This week he is back to action so he is the only person who is able to score goal and create attacks against solid Wolfsburg. Their defense is tested as Grafite and Eden Dzeko are very fit. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg did an excellent job to beat out of gas Bayern München 5-1. Zvjezden Misimovic was the player behind to create the excellent attacks to tear the defense apart. This attacking trio was the reason to improve their away form and then led the team to climb up the 1st place. Together with the solid defense, I believe Gladbach will be very hard to win, or even snatch a point.
Last matchup: Wolfsburg win 3-0
My tip: Wolfsburg win 3-0

Bayern München (4th) vs Eintract Frankfurt (12th) - Saturday: Bayern is now currently on the worst form as they lost Wolfsburg 5-1 and then lost to Barcelona 4-0 in Champions League. The whole team simply are out of gas, Franck Ribery is very very tired now but he must stand up for Bayern once again, as no player can relieve him. Luca Toni simply cannot perform well and the only hope now is Lukas Podolski, as he did not play for a single minute against Barcelona. The defense must be very careful as the counter attack from Frankfurt is pretty threatening. On the other hand, Frankfurt claimed an important 3 points against Energie Cottbus and they again started to get away from the relegation. However, they still struggle on the on the ball situation as they failed to create the attack well. I believe they need a very good counter attack in order to snatch the match. This match will not be a high scoring game as Bayern are very tired and low morale. However, Bayern can win a game with better player quality.
Last matchup: Bayern München win 2-1
My tip: Bayern München win 2-0

Hannover 96 (13th) vs Hertha Berlin (3rd) - Saturday: Hannover this week is back to home again. Comparing with the dragful away game record, I believe Hannover can improve in some extent. Jacek Kryznowek is very important for Hannover now as he is the only player who can create goals. Mikael Forssell is the other important player as he is the only player to have a consistent scoring ability. On the other side, Hertha Berlin had lost a critical match against Borussia Dortmund. It showed they have a very hard time if Andrei Voronin fail to score goal. Marko Pentelic cannot relieve Voronin as he has too few matches to play and he lost the match feeling. So the key of this match will be if Voronin can pick up the scoring ability.
Last matchup: Hertha Berlin win 3-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

Schalke 04 (8th) vs Karlsruher SC (18th) - Saturday: Schalke had won against Bochum after the change of the coaching team. The interim coaching team is predicted to focus on team rebuilding rather than aiming for achieving something, even they still on the stake on qualifying the UEFA Cup next season. This is another big test for Kevin Kuranyi and Jefferson Farfan as they will be a very dangerous position if they keep the cold streak, as they do not any excuses if they fail to score goals in this match. Karlsruher on the other hand, have failed to score goal again, which brought them to continue the non-scoring streak to 6 games. Giovanni Federico, and Sebastian Freis seem hopeless on the attack, even the defense seems fine. I believe Karlsruher are very hard to score the goal as Schalke is not bad at defense. So this will be a low scoring game and I believe Schalke will win this match.
Last matchup: Schalke 04 win 3-0
My tip: Schalke 04 win 1-0

Energie Cottbus (17th) vs Arminia Bielefeld (15th) - Saturday: A typical relegation match in this week. Both teams need this 3 crucial points so both of them should not have anything keeping them. Cottbus continues the cold streak as they lost against Frankfurt last week. It seems very bad for them because they always fail to finish the game. Plus they have a very weak attacking that lead them remain at the bottom. On the other hand, Bielefeld had suffered the same problem as Artur Wichniarek is currently on the cold streak and there is nobody can relieve him. So I believe both teams will cancel each other out and will have a bore draw.
Last matchup: Match draw 1-1
My tip: Match draw 0-0

Borussia Dortmund (9th) vs 1. FC Köln (11th) - Saturday: A midtable clash. Both teams seem they fail to qualify for Europe but they are not worried about the relegation. Borussia Dortmund did a beautiful job to beat Hertha Berlin 3-1 away from home. Alexander Frei is the most important player in the team as his finishing consistency do affect the match finishing for the team. This is the problem for Dortmund this season as they always fail to win a game and resulting a draw. On the other side, Köln has problem in home, but do very well away from home. This maybe the reason of the playing style. It seems they are better to play off the ball defense and counter attacks. However, as they do not play well in on the ball football, it is very hard for them to improve further. I believe this game will be a draw as both of them will cancel each other out.
Last matchup: Borussia Dortmund win 1-0
My tip: Match draw 1-1

1899 Hoffenheim (6th) vs VfL Bochum (14th) - Saturday: Since the restart of the season, Hoffenheim only had 1 win in all matches, that was the first restart match against Cottbus. It is not only because of the absence of Vedad Ibisevic, it is also because the other players cannot relieve him as well. Now only Demba Ba is the fit striker but he is not always finish the play well. Chinedu Obasi is still struggling to regain the excellent form in first half of the season so he cannot offer any help. Carlos Eduardo is still slumping down and he never seems to recover. On the other side, Bochum desperately need this 3 points in order to avoid the relegation early. However, it never seems there is any reliable players who can guarantee to secure the score. Diego Klimowicz is the good choice but he cannot gain any consistency in the team. So Hoffenheim has a great chance to bounce it back in order to keep the hope for qualifying to the European competition.
Last matchup: Hoffenheim win 3-1
My tip: Hoffenheim win 2-0

Bayer Leverkusen (7th) vs Werder Bremen (10th) - Sunday: Leverkusen is keep slumping down and they temporary stop the slide after they beated Köln 2-0 last week. Patrick Helmes picked up the scoring form and hope he can keep it this week. Stefan Kießling is the important player to relieve Helmes in order to keep the attacks consistent. Tranquillo Barnetta will be very important as well because he needs to control the midfield to stop Diego creating. On the other side, even Werder Bremen will play at full strength, I believe they will focus on the UEFA Cup match next Thursday. Diego and Claudio Pizarro may start the game but they will not be very keen on this match. So this is the main reason why I believe Leverkusen can win this one, maybe easier than we think.
Last matchup: Leverkusen win 2-0
My tip: Leverkusen win 2-0

VfB Stuttgart (5th) vs Hamburger SV (2nd) - Sunday: This is a very important game for both of them. Stuttgart still has a glimmer of hope for winning the league as they just trail to Wolfsbug for 6 points. As Bundesliga goes like this in this season, it is not a surprise if Stuttgart can climb up to the top. Mario Gomez and Ciprian Marica are the important strikers to score goals, provided by Thomas Hitzlsperger. On the other side, Hamburger are keen on maintaining the lead, but they have to concern the trip to Manchester City in UEFA Cup match next Thursday. Piotr Trochowski may not start the match even he is in excellent form because he maybe kept until the UEFA Cup match. Jonathan Pitroipa and Marcell Jansen will be very important in the match now as their performance in the flanks brings lot of pressure to the opposition. Considering Hamburger may keep some starters for the next European match plus the home court advantage for Stuttgart, I believe Stuttgart have a pretty good chance to win this match.
Last matchup: Hamburger win 2-0
My tip: Stuttgart win 2-1

That's it for this week. Have a happy and safe Easter!