Bundesliga Betting: Veh's Stuttgart return to end in tears, and Hoffenheim to shine

Hoffenheim can still call upon the talented Roberto Firmino

In the second part of his Bundesliga season preview, Kevin Hatchard picks out some surprise challengers for Europe, and a couple of clubs who may be dragged into the survival scrap...

In the first part of my Bundesliga season preview, I examined the title race and the battle for Champions League qualification. If that's the kind of thing that floats your boat, you can read that piece here. However, we're setting our sights a little lower for this preview.

The Europa League candidates

There are a couple of teams who I think have done excellent transfer business this summer, and as such could be in a position to have a crack at the top six or seven places. Firstly, Hoffenheim look as if they could finally have a settled season, after a few years of ill-judged playing and coaching appointments. Having dug the team out of relegation trouble two seasons ago, coach Markus Gisdol led them to ninth last season. Not only did Hoffe rack up 44 points, but they did it playing sparkling attacking football.

Star forwards Kevin Volland and Roberto Firmino have stayed, and Adam Szalai has been recruited from Schalke to battle Anthony Modeste for the central striker's role. With striker Sven Schipplock in fine form (he bagged five goals in one game in the last round of the German Cup), Gisdol has plenty of firepower at his disposal.

Hoffe's big problem last season was their hideous defending, but moves have been made to shore up the side. Keeper Oliver Baumann has the occasional shocker, but the former Freiburg man is undoubtedly a big upgrade. Centre-back Ermin Bicakcic has arrived from relegated Eintracht Braunschweig, and could form a strong partnership with the promising Niklas Sule. The experienced Pirmin Schwegler will help screen the back four, if he can stay fit. I think 3.9n/a is a decent price for Hoffenheim to finish in the top six.

Hamburg survived relegation by the skin of their teeth last season, as they beat Greuther Furth in a two-legged playoff. Since then, something strange has happened - the Redshorts have actually made some decent signings. Hapless sporting director Oliver Kreuzer has been binned, and his replacement Dietmar Beiersdorfer has hit the ground running. Bustling forward Pierre-Michel Lasogga has been signed permanently from Hertha Berlin after a successful loan spell, clever forward Nicolai Muller has come in from Mainz, Valon Behrami will add much-needed bite to the midfield, and attacking full-back Matthias Ostrzolek is a shrewd signing from Augsburg.

Although key creative force Hakan Calhanoglu has departed, Rafa Van der Vaart is still on the books, and he owes the club a good season. There are still big issues to solve in defence, and keeper Rene Adler has become an accident waiting to happen, but I certainly think HSV will steer well clear of the dropzone this time around. If they start the season well and keep key personnel fit, there's no reason they shouldn't at least finish in the top ten.

Surprise strugglers

I'm happy to wait to see how newly-promoted sides Paderborn and Koln adapt to life in the top flight, so I want to focus on some other clubs who could be dragged into the relegation scrap.

Mainz have lost inspirational coach Thomas Tuchel, who surprisingly stepped down as the end of last season to take a break from coaching. His replacement Kasper Hjulmand has made an awful start to the campaign, overseeing early exits from both the Europa League and the German Cup.

Mainz have lost influential forwards Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Nicolai Muller, leaving the attacking burden on the shoulders of Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki. Some experienced defenders have been released, and the club's summer signings have been far from inspiring. This feels like a potential disaster in the making, and I think we're about to see just how good Tuchel really was. Mainz are a chunky 9.89/1 in the Bottom Two market, and although they have a seemingly kind start fixture-wise, that looks a good price to me.

An even better back-to-lay opportunity in the Bottom Two market could be Stuttgart at a huge 20.019/1. The Swabians escaped the drop by just six points last term, as the team worked their way through three different coaches in a season. Returning coach Armin Veh, who won the title with Stuttgart in 2007, is being hailed as a saviour. However, his record since then is patchy at best, and under-fire sporting director Fredi Bobic hasn't provided inspiring reinforcements.

The squad looks no stronger than last season, and Stuttgart face Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayern Munich, Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund in the first few weeks of the campaign. If they are still as big as 20.019/1 to go down by the end of September, I'll be amazed.

Recommended Bets
Back Hoffenheim to finish Top 6 at 3.9n/a
Back-to-lay Stuttgart in the Bottom Two market at 20.019/1