Having set themselves very much on the right path in recent weeks, Ingolstadt’s survival hopes were dented last time out as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg. Maik Walpurgis’ men now need to bounce back against the free-scoring Werder Bremen.
In recent weeks, these two teams have been all about goals with the net being hit a massive 37 times in their last ten combined. With the way things are going, it’s hard to see anything other than a high-scoring fixture here, especially since the hosts really do need to have a go. On this basis, ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ is the angle of attack.
As touched on above, the goals have been coming thick and fast at both ends for Ingolstadt in recent weeks, especially in front of a home crowd. Walpurgis’ side have scored at least twice in each of their last three at home but they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet in any of those and looked particularly suspect at the back when conceding twice in their 3-2 win over an already relegated Darmstadt recently. From an attacking point of view, having scored seven in their last three at Audi Sportpark, the hosts have had more than enough about them to get competitive, but they’ve continued to let themselves down at the back.
With just one clean sheet at home all season, it’s fair to say that Ingolstadt find it hard to shut their opponents out and they’re likely to be in for another defensive struggle against a Werder Bremen side who’re seemingly scoring for fun.
The visiting side are on a fine run at the moment, both in terms of scoring goals and picking up wins. Bremen have scored no less than 15 in their last five and 11 in their last five on the road. Finding the net on their travels certainly isn’t a problem for Alexander Nouri’s men, although preventing the other lot from doing so often becomes one. The visitors have kept just two clean sheets away from home this season, while both teams have scored in 11 of their 14 on the road.
What’s also particularly eye-catching as far as Bremen are concerned is the number of times they’ve found themselves immersed in a high-scoring match. ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ has landed in 76% of their Bundesliga fixtures this season, including in each of their last five, and in 71% of their away matches.
As they’ve increased their attacking efforts in recent weeks, Ingolstadt have also become partial to a goal-filled encounter with ‘Over 2.5 Goals’ comfortably landing in each of their last four.
All things considered, with the hosts fighting to stay in the division and the visitors seemingly only playing attacking football of late, plenty of goals are expected at Audi Sportpark on Saturday afternoon.
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