Since the appointment of Hansi Flick as Bayern Munich manager, the Bavarians have turned from an unlucky team to the best in Europe after winning the Bundesliga, DFB Cup, and the Champions League.
Flick took over for Niko Kovac as manager when the team was struggling to turn things around. Those post-Flick turnover numbers have been absolutely staggering.
The runners up, Borussia Dortmund improved across the board after the addition of Erling Haaland during the winter transfer. The BVB was however, vulnerable at the back while creating more structure in their attack.
For Eintracht Frankfurt, their undoing was their defense which failed to live up to expectation having qualified for the Europa League a season before. With such performance, they missed out in Europe this year.
Chances Bayern Munich and other Bundesliga teams ahead of 2020-21 season
Many had thought Freiburg will be among the relegation struggler, but gathering 22 points from 12 games took them away from such fight to finish the league in the mid-table comfortably.
Cologne also had a successful season with possesive football,causing some of their opponents problems. It is was only Bayern and BVB matches that averaged more combined goals.
With Stuttgart securing a return to the top flight, we stand a chance of witnessing another teanm that likes keeping the ball as the newcomers like playing a proper possession game, which earned them promotion from the Bundesliga 2 last year.
Last season, there overall possession was 63% while fellow promoted side, Arminia Bielefeld, were pretty defense-heavy.
This will now be a test for Stuttgart to establish anything close to these numbers against the top division clubs.
Arminia were on the other hand playing more with long balls downfield at the expense of possession football. Bielefeld’s defensive numbers are good. But will that pattern be effective in the top flight?
The playing style of Augsburg was a staggeringly vertical, anti-possession, counterattacking style. They alternate between winning close matches and getting thumped.
Another team that played possessive football last season was Bayer Leverkusen, which earned them another spot in Europe. Die Werkself is known for possession as they hog the ball as well as almost anyone.
However, their undoing was not creating a lot of high-quality opportunities. New Chelsea signing , Kai Havertz was said not have had helped the team enough in this aspect.
Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig scored more from the set pieces than any other Bundeliga team. This is credited to their innovative backgrounds. They are therefore expected to maintain those gains.
Leipzig would have even finished higher than Dortmund, but their shot at the title was stopped by an incredible 12 draws.
Frankfurt made attempt at slugging things out with the top six but was unsuccessful. With nothing much to show for their effort last year, Adi Hutter’s Eagles should bounce back.
The fight for the second spot between Dortmund and Leipzig is expected to go haywire this time around, but Bayern may end up taking their 9th straight Bundesliga title.
Bundesliga’s top five prediction
1. Bayern Munich
2. RB Leipzig
3. Borussia Dortmund
4. Eintracht Frankfurt
5. Borussia Monchengladbach
