Improving Kaiserslautern may prove tough to beat

Bundesliga 2
BT Sport 3, 7.30pm Monday

Braunschweig beat second-from-bottom Kaiserslautern 1-0 in both Bundesliga 2 meetings last season but may have to settle for a point on this trip to the Fritz-Walter Stadion.

Kaiserslautern lost their league opener 3-0 in Nuremberg and were beaten 2-0 nine days ago at leaders Fortuna Dusseldorf. But inbetween they held second-placed Darmstadt 1-1 at home and enjoyed an easy 4-0 cup success at Oberliga outfit Eischede.

By contrast, Braunschweig have lost 2-1 at Holstein Kiel in the cup and drawn 1-1 at home to Erzgebirge Aue since opening up with a handy 2-2 draw at Fortuna Dusseldorf and then beating third-from-bottom Heidenheim 2-0 at home.

Aue were in a state of upheaval – sacking new coach Thomas Letsch after two league defeats and a cup exit following the summer departure of Domenico Tedesco and several key players.

Bookmakers clearly expect a cagey clash as they have chalked up under 2.5 goals at 8-13.

And a closer look at recent encounters between the sides backs up the firms’ thinking. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, there have been 11 league and cup meetings and ten have contained fewer than three goals.

Five of those matches have been draws, three at the Fritz-Walter Stadion including a 0-0 stalemate two seasons ago.

Recommendation
Draw
1pt 23-10 bet365

Bet on this match at soccerbase.com