Friday Betting Tips: 13/5 & 5/2 Doubles!

FC Köln v SC Freiburg

Both Köln and Freiburg have made good starts to the new Bundesliga campaign, although one has impressed more than the other. Köln impressively took care of their opening fixture against Darmstadt – a game in which they won (2-0) with relative comfort. A pleasing win first time out was followed by perhaps an even more pleasing goalless draw away at Wolfsburg. They may have failed to score in that match, but keeping a clean sheet against one of the leagues’ top sides (especially at their own ground) is definitely a plus.

Given the start they’ve made, it’s very hard to look past the hosts in this fixture and they are the side to be on. Backing them to both win and score a couple of goals are more than viable options here and, in conjunction with the game below, are two bets worth placing.

If Köln have been solid at the start of this season then Freiburg have been anything but. They may have scored four goals in their two matches thus far and claimed, what looks on paper, an impressive 3-1 win over Champions League side Gladbach at the weekend but this doesn’t tell the whole story, far from it. Having lost 2-1 in their season opener against Hertha, Freiburg seemingly bounced back by beating Mönchengladbach 3-1 at home – or rather Gladbach beat themselves. The Rhineland side held a 1-0 lead at half time and looked good value for the lead; however, thanks to complacency they allowed Freiburg back in and the hosts were able to finish off what looked an unusually ill-disciplined and dejected Gladbach team.

Punters shouldn’t draw too much from this victory and in facing Köln away from home they have a much tougher task ahead of them.

The visitors have conceded three goals already this season (conceding in both of their matches) and have looked fairly easy to break down. Whereas Köln, who are yet to conceded a goal in the league, have looked particularly solid at the back and are always a threat going forward, especially in front of a home crowd.

The hosts are fancied to continue their good start to the season by taking a second three points of the campaign and look more than capable of notching a few times in doing so.

Real Betis v Granada CF

Much like the fixture above, this match sees two sides who’ve made somewhat contrasting starts to the new campaign go head-to-head. Despite losing away to Barcelona on the opening day, Betis have started reasonably well by taking one draw and one win from their last two matches, beating Valencia away from home last time out. Granada, on the other hand, have failed to register a win as of yet and, having drawn one and lost two, they find themselves down in 18th position with just one point to their name.

This is another fixture where it’s fairly difficult to look past a home victory. Estadio Benito Villamarín is tough place to go, especially if you’re a team struggling for form.

If you were to simply look at Betis in the league table and see that they’ve scored five and conceded eight then you certainly wouldn’t be impressed. However, these figures certainly don’t tell us everything we need to know. Six of those eight goals conceded came against Barcelona and, let’s face it, for those who’re aren’t a top 3/4 side in this division, form against Barcelona is reasonably irrelevant and such form has no baring on how teams outside of the top 4 will fare against each other. Tonight’s hosts followed up that Barcelona defeat by keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against La Coruña, before scoring three and emerging victorious at Valencia last time out – a very good result, one which will undoubtedly leave confidence high and could see this Betis side kick-on.

The visitors have conceded no fewer than seven goals in their last two matches – conceding five in their only away match so far this season. Things don’t look great for them ahead of this one and, in truth, it would be a surprise if they were to turn things around here.

Betis come into this fixture on the back of two decent results and should be in good spirits, something that cannot be said for their opponents. With this in mind, the hosts look a good bet to claim back-to-back victories and also continue their good scoring form at the same time.

See more tips here.