Football betting tips: EFL, 3. Liga, 2. Bundesliga
1pt 1860 Munich to beat Rot-Weiss Essen (18:00) at 27/20 (bet365)
1pt Hertha Berlin to beat Schalke (19:30) at 7/5 (General)
1pt Under 2.5 goals in Luton vs Wimbledon at 23/20 (20:00) (General)
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Luton vs Wimbledon
- Kick-off: 20:00 BST
- TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Joe Townsend
To save the hassle of jumping from article to article I am plagiarising my own work and taking the bet from here and pasting it in here. You're welcome.
The EFL is back on Friday night when Luton and Wimbledon return to League One from opposite directions to contest its curtain-raiser.
Given the trajectory the Dons were on in the second half of last season I'm expecting them to try and make things as difficult as possible for the ante-post title favourites with the 23/20 about UNDER 2.5 GOALS a serious runner.
71% of Wimbledon's matches went unders. In their final 31 games that jumped to 81%. By the final 11 fixtures it was 91%.
Rot-Weiss Essen vs 1860 Munich
- Kick-off: 18:00 BST
- TV: DFB Play/Live Streaming
Tom Carnduff
Our opening weekend of the campaign kicks off in Germany and a trip to the third tier, where one of the title favourites in 1860 Munich travel to take on Rot-Weiss Essen.
I was hoping for a generous price on 1860's success this season but 6/1 is just too short for my liking. There's also the off-pitch situation surrounding their potential change of ownership which could have an impact.
On the pitch though, if they can enjoy an undistracted campaign, they have all the potential of promotion on the 60th anniversary of their sole Bundesliga crown.
Prices of 27/20 and 7/5 are available on an 1860 MUNICH WIN here, which is where the best bet can be found.
Following Patrick Glöckner’s appointment as head coach in January, the Bavarian outfit returned 29 points from a possible 54 - that placed them 6th in the table over this period.
There should be plenty of goals in this line up. The attack has improved with the additions of Florian Niederlechner and Kevin Volland, with seven other signings being placed in Glöckner’s squad.
And it's not just the attack too. This group possesses a good level of quality throughout.
German publication Kicker published their rankings feature for 3. Liga players recently. 1860's centre-back partnership of Jesper Verlaat and Sean Dulic achieved third and fifth place in the "Outstanding" category.
There always feels a little more risk staking on the opening weekend. But Sechzig have the potential to go well this season and I'll back that to get off to a good start on Friday.
Schalke vs Hertha Berlin
- Kick-off: 19:30 BST
- TV: Live Streaming
- Live odds, form and stats
Tom Carnduff
It's an incredibly open promotion race to the Bundesliga this season, on paper anyway.
Six or seven teams can make a serious claim to the two automatic spots on offer. One of those is HERTHA BERLIN, who the bookmakers have made clear favourites for success.
They're in at 4s with the next jump to Hannover at 7/1. Friday's opponents Schalke are a club you'd rank within the seven who could go up.
But their transfer business has been slow. Ex-Plymouth Argyle boss Miron Muslic is in as head coach yet he'll have wanted more to have happened in the market by this point.
They head into Friday's meeting with three new faces - a complete contrast to a Hertha outfit who have kept the large core of their squad together while adding in various areas.
The 7/5 available with bookmakers on a HERTHA WIN looks the best approach to this one.
They finished last season in solid form following Stefan Leitl's arrival in mid-February. Hertha lost just three of their 12 under his guidance with five ending in victory.
The points-per-game basis would be enough to put them fifth last season if he was in charge for the full campaign. We can factor in a summer to work with the squad alongside the new faces though. The visitors seem the most ready to go in Gelsenkirchen.
Odds correct at 1525 BST (31/08/25)
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