It’s all About Niko in the Final!

It’s all About Niko in the Final!

DFB Pokal Final: Bayern Munich vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Well it’s Final Day in Berlin on Saturday, as FC Bayern aims to complete a domestic double in the DFB Pokal climax against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Football odds and recent form tell us the League Champions should lift the Cup at the Olympiastadion, but that isn’t the half of it…

Talking Points

The Cup Final will be graced by the Bundesliga’s finest, in Bayern colours, always good for a football bet. But all eyes will be on the touchline where Germany’s best team’s new coach will be, doing his level best to beat them. Eintracht’s talented manager, Niko Kovac, is switching Frankfurt for Munich in the summer; what a chance to show them who’s boss!

Bayern have a dressing room full of stars and 46 year old Kovac will need to assert his authority quickly, which he could do with a win on Saturday. But every player in a Bayern shirt will be out to show the incoming boss just what they can do before Kovac takes over at Bayern in July.

The former Croatia star played for Bayern between 2001 and 2003 and knows the club well enough to make a fast start, but the timing of his departure from Eintracht has annoyed his current employers, who believe Bayern have derailed the end of their season.

We love a bit of bite in a Cup Final!

And Kovac will be relying on bite on the field if his Eintracht players are to spring a surprise on the top dogs. Serbian striker Luka Jovic has weighed in with eight league goals since his arrival on loan from Benfica, but the biggest threat to Bayern could come in the six foot three frame of target-man Sebastian Haller. The French forward has top scored for Frankfurt with nine goals and he’s a real handful, fourth in the Bundesliga list of duels won, coming out on top in the challenge 411 times during the season, and winning more than his fair share in the air.

Kevin-Prince Boateng can provide the ammunition, and he has rallied his team-mates following defeat to Schalke in the run-up to the final, saying: “We must not let this pull us down now. I’m proud of the troupe. The final is a highlight and we can still make it. It’s going to be tough, but that Bayern can lose is something we saw today.”

Indeed, in outgoing manager Jupp Heynckes’ last league game the champions fell to their first home defeat in two seasons, being thumped 1-4 by Stuttgart, despite enjoying 80 per cent possession. The 72 year old boss is in his fourth spell at the club and would dearly love to end on a high. And failure to land a place in the Champions League has made his players equally determined to see of Eintracht in style.

Winger Franck Ribery has vowed to deliver the cup for Bayern fans for a 19th time, by adding victory over Eintracht to the league. In top scorer Robert Lewandowski the favourites have a man in spectacular form, and I wouldn’t bet against him on Saturday.

History

Well, history certainly favours Kovac’s future team rather than his current, with 18 DBF-Pokals already won Bayern are ready to snatch the trophy back from Borussia Dortmund. And, of course, they know exactly how to do that, winning it three times in the last five years. In contrast Eintracht have won it four times… not bad… but not since 1988. Kovac did steer his team to the final last year, but couldn’t stop the wait extending to 30 years.

Head to heads don’t give the underdogs much comfort either. Eintracht has a one-in-seven record against the champions, winning just six of 42 meetings.

Bayern have won the last three clashes, scoring eight and conceding one, the last being a 4-1 drubbing at the Allianz Arena, though three of the goals came late in the game and Sebastian Haller proved he can breach the Munich defence.

What are the Odds?

Could Kovac really inspire the rank outsiders to scupper Bayern’s assault on a fourth domestic double in six years? Well, it needs a handicap betting move to even things up according to our football betting offers at SBOBET.

Two goals look to be about the right margin, with Bayern at 1.91 to win with a -1.75 goal handicap. Eintracht is available at 2.01 with that start.

If the Frankfurters can last 45 minutes then a draw at half time will pay 2.79, while an unexpected half time lead for Eintracht is 6.80, Bayern is 1.63.

2-0 is the most likely score at 6.40, and a repeat of last month’s 4-1 is at 12.50.

But it’s all about Niko, and if his team is still in it after 90 minutes the story gets even bigger. So Eintracht, double chance to win or draw, is 3.65.

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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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