2. Bundesliga Round 27 Odds & Predictions: Top Two Showdown with Hamburger vs Arminia Bielefeld

• The German 2. Bundesliga (second division) resumes play on Friday with eight matches this weekend on Matchday 27
• Top-two showdown between Hamburger and Arminia Bielefeld highlights the card
• Read on for odds for all eight matches taking place this weekend plus our best bets

Last week the return to play in the 2. Bundesliga featured a lot of “fives”. We saw five of the eight home teams win without their fans in attendance. Though two road teams did receive red cards which surely didn’t help their causes. Five games also featured both teams scoring and another five games saw goal totals go OVER 2.5.

Hannover 96 will have gained an extra week of practice, but less game experience as they were forced to sit out Matchday 26 due to their opponents Dynamo Dresden being sent into quarantine. This week Dresden and their would-be opponents Greuther Furth will be sitting out.

While of course the Bundesliga has plenty of matches of their own this weekend, we dive into the best bets from the 2. Bundesliga card below.

2. Bundesliga Round 27 Odds

All odds taken May 20

Pick 1: Heidenheim vs Wehen

The weekend card begins Friday afternoon at 12:30 pm EST with two matches, Heidenheim hosting Wehen and Nurnberg hosting Erzgebirge Aue. We’ll look at the first of those matches now. A quick look at the table would make this one look like a huge mismatch with Heidenheim ranked fourth with 41 points and Wehen down in 16th with 28 points.

However, Wehen’s poor ranking is mostly due to a poor start to the year. Over the past ten matches they have the ninth-best form and in the past five matches they’ve collected the sixth-most points in the league as well.

Wehen went into the league stoppage with a massive 6-2 road win over 13th-placed Osnabruck, backed by a hat-trick from leading scorer Manuel Schaffler. Schaffler was back at it again scoring his team-leading 16th goal last week in Wehen’s 2-1 home win over third-place Stuttgart.

Interesting footage from 2.Bundesliga game SV Wehen Wiesbaden – VfB Stuttgart. Penalty for handball assigned in the last stages of the game after VAR intervention and OFR.
Referee: Sascha Stegemann VAR: Robert Kampka.
Clip (with translated subtitles): pic.twitter.com/VPoLDSwbni

— Law 5 – The Ref (@Law5_TheRef) May 17, 2020

Being away from home hasn’t been the problem for Wehen as they have the seventh-best away record and have scored 20 goals in 13 matches, but have also allowed plenty as well with 19.

Heidenheim has been solid at home, scoring 22 and conceding just 11, while currently being undefeated at Voith-Arena in eight matches. However, their 3-0 loss last weekend to 12th-place Bochum was the heaviest defeat of any team on Matchday 26. They have now conceded eight goals in their past five matches.

No fans and the current form of both sides may make this one closer than it looks while also seeing a few goals.

Pick: Both teams to score & Over 2.5 (+110)

Pick 2: Karlsruher vs Bochum

Karlsruher play hosts to Bochum at 7:30 am EST on Sunday in a bottom-half of the table matchup.

Both teams took steps to improve those positions last week as Bochum had the biggest win of the weekend, 3-0 over Heidenheim, and Karlsruher claiming a 2-0 victory over Darmstadt. While Bochum ranks seventh and Karlsruher 17th, very little separates teams in the 2. Bundesliga after the few top sides. Case in point, fifth-placed Greuther Furth’s 37 points is only ten points above the relegation-threatened 17th Karlsruher with 27 points.

As such, both sides are very much in the running for relegation, while also being quite capable of reaching safety in the final weeks of the season.

These teams met on October 20 in Bochum where they played out an entertaining 3-3 draw which Karlsruher tied in the 91′ minute.

Jordi Osei-Tutu est de nouveau resté sur le banc dans le match nul 3-3 de Bochum face à Karlsruher pour la 10ème journée de 2. Bundesliga#AFCLoanArmy pic.twitter.com/mvQbvakAeH

— Arsenal French Touch (@TouchArsenal) October 20, 2019

High-scoring matches are nothing new for Bochum as their matches have seen the most combined goals in the league (43GF/45GA). They have played 17 matches to OVER 2.5 goal totals and 12 matches to OVER 3.5 goal totals, both tops in the 2. Bundesliga.

Karlsruher have not been as proficient offensively with only 35 goals scored, but have managed to find the back of the net in four of five. However, defensively, they’ve conceded the joint-most goals in the league with 46.

It’s hard to see either team keeping a clean sheet in this one and plenty of goals should be in the cards.

Pick: BTTS & Over 2.5 (-110)

Pick 3: Hamburger vs Arminia Bielefeld

This will by far be the headliner of the weekend when second-place Hamburger hosts first place Arminia Bielefeld at 7:30 am EST Sunday morning.

Arminia are currently in control of the division with a seven-point lead over Hamburger and Stuttgart. A win here could likely give them enough points to take the title, especially should Stuttgart lose as well. But of course, Hamburger will know this is their chance to hold onto a shot at the title and to continue to fend off Stuttgart for the final automatic Bundesliga promotion spot.

Confere aqui o nosso primeiro gol depois dessa parada de dois meses, e não podia ser de outra pessoa, Fabian Klos sofreu e converteu o pênalti com categoria. 🐐 https://t.co/XTEOq9db7t

— Arminia Bielefeld Brasil (@arminiabrasil) May 19, 2020

Last week saw both teams return to action with draws. Hamburger with a high-scoring 2-2 draw away to Greuther Furth and Arminia a lower-scoring 1-1 draw at home to Osnabruck. Goals were tough to come by in the Arminia match when you consider Arminia scored from Fabian Klos’ penalty in the first half and Osnabruck didn’t score until the dying moments of the match in the 94′ minute. The PK goal was Klos’ 17th, giving him the lead for the scoring title in the 2. Bundesliga.

Both sides are averaging nearly two goals per game with 51 and 50 goals scored in 26 matches. But both are also among the stingiest defensively allowing near one goal per game. Arminia have allowed 25 in 26 games, while Hamburger have allowed 30.

📌 Injury update

Whilst Julian Pollersbeck (ankle) will partially return to training this week, Ewerton (knee) and Gideon Jung (hip) will be sidelined for a longer period of time.

Get well soon, lads! 👍#nurderHSV pic.twitter.com/WdIyVZ2bpI

— HSV English (@HSV_English) May 18, 2020

These teams met back in October and ended in a 1-1 draw. Last season both teams won at home, Arminia 2-0 and Hamburg 3-0.

Arminia Bielefeld matches have been very low-scoring of late. They’ve drawn 1-1 in back-to-back matches and won 1-0 in each of their two matches prior. Taking one point on the road and maintaining their lead over Hamburger in the table would not be the worst result for them here. This one should be close and likely low-scoring.

Pick: Under 2.5 (+105), Draw (+245)