Football Bet of the Day: Offenbach to Kick on with a home win

Andre Hahn (red kit) in his Kickers Offenbach days

One of our two resident globetrotters, Kevin Hatchard, continues his betting odyssey with a selection from the fourth tier of German football...

Kickers Offenbach v Hessen Kassel
Tuesday November 11, 19:15

It was nice to think back to childhood days watching Alessandro Del Piero strut his stuff for Juventus, and Foggia bamboozle defences with Zdenek Zeman's "tridente", but modern Italian football let us down last night. We needed three goals from Bari's clash with Ternana, and Felipe Avenatti's fifth-minute opener for the visitors gave us the perfect start, but 1-0 was the way it stayed. Arrivederci, Italia.

To Germany then, and a Regionalliga Sudwest showdown between the leaders Kickers Offenbach and eighth-placed Hessen Kassel. Kickers are going great guns - they can go four points clear at the top with a win tonight, and they have won all six of their league games at home.

Kickers are also enjoying a fine run in the DFB Pokal, having dumped out two second-tier sides at the Sparda Bank Hessen Stadium (catchy name). Ingolstadt were beaten on penalties after a 0-0 draw, while Karlsruher were edged out 1-0 just a couple of weeks ago. It's worth noting that Ingolstadt are currently top of 2.Bundesliga, while Karlsruher are sixth, so these were big scalps.

The league leaders have built their campaign on strong defence. They have played 19 games in all competitions, and have already kept ten clean sheets. They have the joint-best defence in the division (12 goals conceded in 15 games), and they haven't lost a match since a 3-0 reverse at Pirmasens in August.

Hessen Kassel drew with Kickers home and away last season, and have lost just one of their last six games, which may explain why the leaders are 1.84/5 to win this evening. Although Die Lowen are having a good season, their away record is patchy, with four defeats in eight games. They haven't won away in the league since mid-September, and that victory came at rock-bottom Baunatal.

This won't be a stroll for Kickers Offenbach - who had Germany and Borussia Monchengladbach winger Andre Hahn in their team less than two years ago - but they have beaten much better sides than Hessen Kassel this season. Given the respective home and away records of the two sides, 1.84/5 seems pretty chunky for the home win.

Recommended Bet
Back Kickers Offenbach to win at 1.84/5

2014 P/L (1pt per bet)

Points Staked: 50

Points Returned: 46.5

P/L: -3.5 points