The first Saturday of the 2011-12 Bundesliga season starts with Stuttgart against Schalke at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, and both sides will look to improve on last year’s below-par league finishes.
Stuttgart fans were disappointed with the club’s 12th place finish last term, and will hope to start 2011-12 with a win. It has been a quiet transfer window for Bruno Labbadia’s side so far, but Mexican defender Francisco Rodriguez and striker Julian Scheiber have joined the club. The outfit have only played two pre-season friendlies, winning one and losing one. Titan Bet give Stuttgart the favourite tags, and odds of 2.24.
Schalke had a great adventure in the Champions League last season, making the semi-finals, but as a result their domestic form suffered, and they finished down in 14th place. Ralf Rangnick’s side beat Borussia Dortmund on penalties in the German Super Cup recently, and will look to take this confidence into the season opener. They have however lost goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer to Bayern Munich, but Romanian forward Ciprian Marica and Austrian defender Christian Fuchs have moved to the Gelsenkirchen. Titan Bet give odds of 3.05 for a Schalke win.
This should be a close game between two evenly matched teams. My Bundesliga football betting tip is a 2-2 draw; Titanbet offer odds of 3.35 for there to be 4-6 goals in the game.
[odds group=40253&event=465947]
Tags: Bruno Labbadia, Christian Fuchs, Ciprian Marica, Francisco Rodriguez, Germany Bundesliga highlights, Julian Scheiber, Manuel Neuer, Ralf Rangnick, Schalke, Schalke odds, Stuttgart, Stuttgart odds, Stuttgart vs Schalke
