Bundesliga Picks - 16 September 2011

Rob Alexander finds some decent bets in the weekend's Bundesliga action

Bayern Munich have imposed themselves on the Bundesliga with some heavy wins over their rivals, culminating in a 7-0 demolition of Freiburg last weekend.

The biggest club in Germany travel to last season's Champions League semi-finalists Schalke 04 on Sunday as they look to maintain their place at the top of the table. Schalke 04 have not lost yet at home this season, with good wins over the league's surprise package Borussia Monchengladbach and a 5-1 hammering of FC Koln, so it will be a tough test for Jupp Heynckes' side.

Last season's champions Borussia Dortmund have had a stuttering start to the season, with a poor loss at home to Hertha Berlin last weekend. They travel to a Hannover side in decent form at home, but probably tired after a hard fought draw against Standard Liege in the Europa League on Thursday.

Hamburg are rooted to the foot of the table with just one point (a 2-2 draw at home to Hertha Berlin) from five matches and face a tough test this weekend as an in form Borussia Monchengladbach side visit. That match is the subject of one of my picks.

Hamburg v Borussia Monchengladbach

Considering Hamburg's form so far this season it will be hard to back against Monchengladbach causing them more hardship by getting a result.

The Hamburg defence is haemorrhaging goals at the moment and that hardly looks like changing. Having said that, the visitors have only scored one goal in two matches away from home, but that was in a 1-0 win at Bayern Munich at the start of the season.

Hamburg are unlikely to continue their poor run of form for too much longer and have a decent squad of players who are capable of turning the corner if their defence stops leaking goals at will.

I fancy Hamburg to claim their first win and turn their season around with a somewhat surprising, comfortable win against Monchengladbach.

Bet 1 point on Hamburg -1 at 3.55 with bet365.

FC Nurnberg v Werder Bremen

The second pick of the weekend comes in a match where both sides are in good form after victories in the last match week.

FC Nurnberg beat FC Augsburg 1-0 for their first home win of the season, while Werder Bremen claimed an excellent 2-1 win at Hoffenheim to go level on points with Bayern Munich and sit second in the table.

FC Nurnberg will be hoping to make their home ground a fortress over the coming season as they bid to challenge for a European place after falling well short last season, despite their sixth place finish.

Werder Bremen on the other hand had a season to forget last season, finishing just 13th. They stuck with coach Thomas Schaaf when many other sides would have fired their managers after such and underachievment and it looks to be paying dividends at this early stage in the season with four wins from five matches.

Werder Bremen are clearly the superior side in this match and I fancy them to pick up another win to at least stay level on points with Bayern Munich after six matches. The victory could easily be by more than a single clear goal, especially with Markus Rosenberg and Claudio Pizarro in good form in front of goal.

Bet 2 points on Werder Bremen -1 at 3.9 with bet365.