Monday’s clash between Nurnberg and Kaiserslautern is the last Bundesliga 2 match before the Christmas break and, unfortunately, trends are favouring this to be a boring affair. Kaiserslautern find themselves stuck in the lower half of the table with the joint worst scoring record in the league (10 goals in 16 matches). Meanwhile, hosts Nurnberg, who ended last season in 3rd and failed to clinch their top flight spot against Eintracht Frankfurt in the relegation play-off, haven’t been able to replicate the same aforementioned form of yesteryear in some difficult fixtures over the past weeks.
Despite their struggles in front of goal, Kaiserslautern do, however, have the joint best defensive record in the Bundesliga (just 13 goals conceded), alongside 4th placed Heidenheim, and it shows: Kaiserslautern come into this off the back of three consecutive 0-0 draws, but have also kept clean sheets in six of their last seven (86%) matches. Regardless of which way this match flows, Kaiserslautern’s “dry” influence on matches has seen under 2.5 goals scored in 12 of their 16 fixtures so far this season (75%) and, as such, odds of 4/5 on this market has to be a decent bet here.
However, if there is any player that stands a chance to break through the Bundesliga 2’s joint best defense, it would be Nurnberg’s Guido Burgstaller. Burgstaller is the Bundesliga 2’s top goalscorer, with 13 goals in 14 appearances, and has scored at least one goal in 7 of Nurnberg’s last 8 league matches. He’d be our shout for an anytime scorer bet here (odds to follow).
Kaiserslautern’s Osayamen Osawe, who has scored 5 goals in 15 appearances, isn’t quite on his level, failing to score in any of their last five matches. Combining Burgstaller’s form alongside Nurnberg’s strong recent record against Kaiserslautern – Nurnberg have won 6 of the last seven meetings against Kaiserslautern (see team news) – then we feel Nurnberg to win 1-0 at 6/1 also seems a reasonable shout here.
