Bayern Munich Now Overwhelming Favorites for Bundesliga Title; Top 4 Race Heats Up

• After their 1-0 win in the Der Klassiker against Dortmund on Tuesday, Bayern now have a seven-point lead in first place
• However, the race for a top-four finish continues to be tight
• Get the full odds, picks, and best bet below for which teams will finish in a Champions League spot by the season’s end

Bayern Munich continued their winning streak against Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, downing Lucien Favre’s side behind a Joshua Kimmich goal in the 43rd minute. That’s now two straight matches where Bayern have beat Dortmund, outscoring them 5-0  in the process after a four-goal victory back in November.

With a seven-point cushion at the top of the table, Bayern looks well on their way to yet another Bundesliga title. But a number of sides are still fighting for a top-four finish and an automatic berth in next year’s Champions League campaign. Dortmund is currently just two points ahead of RB Leipzig, while Borussia Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen are both stuck on 53 points as they battle it out for the fourth spot.

 Bundesliga Odds

Odds taken May 27

In the 2020 Bundesliga odds before league play resumed, Bayern had -533 odds, but after their important victory against Dortmund, Hans Flick’s side are now -6600 to take home their 29th title.

▪️ Leipzig miss the chance to go second
▪️ Hoffenheim inch closer to Europe
▪️ Fortuna take a step towards safety #BundesligaMD28 pic.twitter.com/pbHpWvLgq2

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 27, 2020

Leipzig and Dortmund Fight for Second

With just six matchdays remaining in Germany’s top flight, it should be a very exciting finish to the campaign. Leipzig slipped up on Tuesday, tying Hertha Berlin 2-2, leaving them still trailing Dortmund. A second yellow for Marcel Halstenberg in the 63rd minute had them playing with ten men for the majority of the second half, eventually conceding a spot-kick with just minutes to go which led to Hertha burying the equalizer.

Realistically at this stage in the season, it’s very unlikely that anyone is catching Bayern considering their current form. But, Julien Nagelsmann’s men definitely have an opportunity to finish in second place if they can get back to their winning ways on the weekend. They’ve had a fantastic season thus far and were a serious contender in this year’s Champions League competition before it was postponed due to coronavirus.

Timo Werner has continued to score goals at a high rate, bagging a hat trick in a 5-0 thrashing of Mainz on the weekend. It’s no surprise that the 24-year old is one of the brightest young strikers in Europe given his clinical abilities in the final third.

Leipzig’s remaining schedule is against mostly bottom-half of the table sides, other than clashes with Hoffenheim and Dortmund. When they host the black and yellows at Red Bull Arena on June 20th, it will definitely be a crucial match as both of them severely battle for second place.

Dortmund has played well as of late, beating Schalke and Wolfsburg before their defeat against Bayern. They have conceded just one goal in three matches while netting six times. Three of those goals have been scored by Raphael Guerreiro, who’s been an exciting player on the attack.

A Battle for the Last UCL Spot

Monchengladbach and Leverkusen have enjoyed impressive campaigns and although they won’t play one another again before the season concludes, every match is important right now as they set their sights on Europe’s most prized competition next year.

Peter Bosz’s side was dominant in their first two fixtures since returning to action but were disappointing on Monday, losing 4-1 to Wolfsburg. They did beat Monchengladbach over the weekend though, however, Gladbach secured a point on Tuesday, putting them level with Leverkusen. Kai Havertz has been in exhilarating form for his squad, bagging four goals in just three matches. It’ll be important that the youngster continues to be productive in the final third as Leverkusen makes a push at the top of the table.

In his last 6 Bundesliga matches, Kai Havertz was directly involved in at least one goal. No one in club history has ever done so in 7 consecutive matches since the start of detailed data collection.

🔜 #B04WOB pic.twitter.com/mRpTyQW015

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) May 26, 2020

As for Monchengladbach,  they have won just once since league play has resumed. Marco Rose’s squad has an identical record to Leverkusen currently with six fixtures remaining. Both of these teams are familiar with Europa League and that would ultimately be where one of them ends up if they don’t finish in the top four. But  Champions League is always the goal and it’s certainly a realistic one right now. Given that just four points separate these two and Dortmund, anything is possible within the top four as the season winds down.

Best Bet

It’s a foregone conclusion that Bayern has the title wrapped up. But as for the remaining three spots, I do think Leipzig will end up in second, with Dortmund in third in a month’s time, followed by Leverkusen in fourth place.

Monchengladbach has looked solid, but I just think that Kai Havertz and co. will beat them out for a Champions League spot. Even though Leverkusen did lose on Monday, their previous two matches were convincing victories where they showed very well.

Leipzig was an early favorite to dethrone Bayern but they’ll have to settle for runners up. Regardless, they’ve been one of the most exciting teams in Europe to watch this season and deservingly should finish ahead of Dortmund.