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Bayern Munich -400 Favorites to Win Bundesliga Ahead of Season Opener; Dortmund Distant Second-Favorites at +410

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in Soccer News

Updated Apr 16, 2020 · 1:14 PM PDT

Bayern Munich celebrates
Bayern Munich have won the German Bundesliga for seven straight seasons and are favored to do so again. Photo By @MiaSanMiaBR1 (Twitter)
  • Bayern Munich are the -400 favorites to win the Bundesliga title
  • They’ve won the league in each of the past seven seasons
  • Borussia Dortmund (+410) is the second betting choice

Bayern Munich will open the 2019-20 Bundesliga season on Friday against Hertha Berlin and most soccer pundits figure the season will end as it always does in Germany, with Bayern at the top of the table.

A cross-section of leading sportsbooks show the German giants to be the solid -400 chalk in the Bundesliga odds.

2019-20 Bundesliga Odds

Team Odds
Bayern Munich -400
Borussia Dortmund +410
RB Leipzig +1400
Bayer Leverkusen +2500
Borussia Monchengladbach +7500
Eintracht Frankfurt +10000
Hoffenheim +12500
VfL Wolfsburg +12500
FC Schalke 04 +15000
Hertha Berlin +50000
Werder Bremen +50000

*Odds taken on 08/13/19. 

Bayern’s odds to win have only grown shorter as the season nears. They were -350 to win in the opening Bundesliga odds.

Bayern Are the Bomb

You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone ready to concede that there’s a side capable of toppling Bayern Munich from their reign over German soccer. They turned the double last season, winning both the Bundesliga and the German Cup final.

The stats website FiveThirtyEight expects Bayern to dominate yet again. They’ve pegged Bayern with a 76-percent chance to win the Bundesliga, projecting the lads from Munich to record an 83-point campaign and a goal differential of +63.

Bayern opened defense of the Cup via a 3-1 verdict over fourth-tier club Energie Cottbus. In preseason play, they drubbed amateur side FC Rottach-Egern 23-0.

Cracks in Bayern’s Armor?

Can a case be made that Bayern Munich is vulnerable? Last season, their first under manager Niko Kovac, they fell seven points behind Borussia Dortmund early in the campaign. But they staged a furious rally, closing the season on an unbeaten 10-0-3 run.

Bayern drubbed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 on the final day of the season to cop the title by two points over Dortmund.

YouTube video

Veteran mainstays Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery moved on at the end of the season, making way for young stars Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry to take on more prominent roles.

Some of Bayern’s big stars are getting on in years. Goalkeeper and team captain Manuel Neuer and star striker Robert Lewandowski are past 30 and forward Tomas Muller is 29.

Kovac has admitted the team could use more players to bolster the roster. Offseason signings included defenders Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart) and Lucas Hernanez (Atletico Madrid) and forward Jann-Fiete Arp (Hamburg). Bayern is also close to reaching a loan deal to get Croatian international winger Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan.

Dormant Dortmund?

The title was there for the taking last season for Borussia Dortmund but instead they took a great fall. Dortmund’s tumble from the top was punctuated by a 5-0 late-season loss to Bayern.

YouTube video

In the German SuperCup season tipoff, Dortmund handled Bayern 3-1, even though new signings Julian Brandt, Thorgan Hazard and Mats Hummels all missed the match through injury. English teen Jadon Sancho was man of the match, scoring once and setting up another goal.

RB Leipzig are also a potential threat to Bayern. They lost 3-0 to Bayern in the German Cup final. During Bundesliga play, they fell 1-0 and gained a scoreless draw.

Take a Chance

All signs point to Bayern winning the Bundesliga yet again. But at -400, what’s the point of betting on the Munich men?

Take a flyer. Put a unit on Borussia Dortmund (+410). Maybe the departures of Robben and Ribery – a tandem known around Munich as Robbery – marked the end of an era.

Dortmund (2010-11, 2011-12) were the last Bundesliga champions prior to Bayern’s run. They’ve finished second four times in seven years.

Perhaps they can steal away with the title this season?

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