I am writing this first article about Fantasy Bundesliga for the community. Hopefully, I will be able to present to you my thoughts through this article. First of all, let me tell you a little bit about the Bundesliga, it is the top division in the German football pyramid and Bundesliga Fantasy is the official fantasy manager game for the league. The Bundesliga is one of the top five leagues in Europe and has constantly been dominated by last year’s champions Bayern Munich but with the meteoric rise of teams such as RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund that are brimming with talent, will their eight-year reign of winning every season come to an end?
The Bundesliga fixtures for the 2021/22 season was released on 26th June and I’ve done intensive research to see which teams got the best fixtures in the first four matchdays of the season. So I will give you a little idea about the teams to target in this article. Let’s get started.
Bundesliga Fixtures for the 21/22 season
VFL Wolfsburg
First Four Matchdays:
- VFL Bochum (H)
- Hertha BSC (A)
- RB Leipzig (H)
- SpVgg Greuther Fürth (H)
If you take a look, you will see that Wolfsburg’s FDR is the lowest in our season ticker. Wolfsburg plays their first match of the season at home against last year’s 2. Bundesliga champions – VFL Bochum. The “Die Unabsteigbaren” or “The Unrelegetables” are making a return to the first division after 11 long years but have already received a big setback after losing their best player Robert Žulj who had 15 goals and 13 assists in just 31 games last season as he left to join UAE Pro League club Ittihad Kalba. If you notice, you will see that none of the top four teams that finished last year’s league table have to face Wolfsburg except Leipzig. In Matchday 3, they will play at home against Leipzig, who finished as the runners-up last year. The rest of the matches are against Hertha who survived relegation by a knife’s edge and promoted side Greuther Fürth. Wout Weghorst, Wolfsburg’s top point scorer last year will be a very popular choice and Ridle Baku is also one to keep an eye on.
FSV Mainz 05
First Four Matchdays:
- RB Leipzig (H)
- VFL Bochum (A)
- SpVgg Greuther Fürth (H)
- TSG Hoffenheim (A)
The manner in which FSV Mainz fought back from the brink of relegation last year after Bo Svensson joined the club has enabled them to defend the Bundesliga club’s status for another year. Mainz had an impressive run in the second half of last season and were able to get some impressive wins against teams such as Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Borussia under their belt. Their improvement especially in the defence department is quite noticeable. The win against last season’s champions Bayern at home really set a shining example of their performance under the new coach. Except for the first match against RB Leipzig, the rest of the matches will be much easier for the Zerofivers. Especially in matchday two and three this time as they will be playing against newly-promoted sides VFL Bochum and Greuther Fürth in consecutive matches and then Hoffenheim in matchday four.
Eintracht Frankfurt
First Four Matchdays:
- Borussia Dortmund (A)
- FC Augsburg (H)
- DSC Arminia Bielefeld (A)
- VFB Stuttgart (H)
Frankfurt finished fifth in the league table last season after an end of the season collapse saw them miss out on a Champions League spot and they will start this season with a game with Dortmund. The Eagles will play the remaining three matches against Augsburg, Bielefield and Stuttgart respectively. None of these teams finished in the top eight last year and despite Frankfurt selling their leading goal-scorer Andre Silva who had 28 goals last season to Leipzig this year, they still have Filip Kostić and the team one to watch out for with a favourable set of fixtures to begin the season.
FC Union Berlin
First Four Matchdays:
- Bayer Leverkusen (H)
- TSG Hoffenheim (A)
- Borussia Mönchengladbach (H)
- FC Augsburg (H)
The achievements of the Union in the last two years are unprecedented. They made their Bundesliga debut in the 2019/20 season and fast forward to the 2020/21 season and they have secured a spot in the Europa Conference League after finishing seventh last season. In the last two years, they have gone through a dream tour under manager Urs Fischer who has led them since they were in the second division. They will not face a very difficult test in the first four matches of the year season and they will have home advantage in the games against Leverkusen and Borussia.
Other Teams to Consider
Bayern Munich
First Four Matchdays:
- Borussia Mönchengladbach (A)
- FC Köln (H)
- Hertha BSC (H)
- RB Leipzig (A)
Bayern Munich will open their season campaign with an away match against Monchengladbach who they beat 6-0 at home the last time these two sides met. In Matchday four, they will play second-placed RB Leipzig – Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann’s previous team and he will know the team inside out. Last year’s Fantasy Bundesliga top-scorer Robert Lewandowski who scored 41 goals last season should be in his traditional goal-scoring form and he has been as sharp as ever.
SC Freiburg
First Four Matchdays:
- DSC Arminia Bielefeld (A)
- Borussia Dortmund (H)
- VFB Stuttgart (A)
- FC Köln (H)
Freiburg face Borussia Dortmund in a home game on matchday two but the rest of the matches are relatively much easier with opponents who are in the top 12 of the league table. Grifo and Günter are the two players who will be in the spotlight for Freiburg this year.
VFL Bochum
First Four Matchdays:
- Wolfsburg (A)
- FSV Mainz (H)
- FC Köln (A)
- Hertha BSC (H)
With the exception of Wolfsburg, Bochum who were promoted this time around face no teams in the league table that ended in the top 10 last season. Newly promoted VFL Bochum is a possible source for differentials and budget pick in fantasy so we have to keep an eye on that.
You can find additional Bundesliga Fantasy resources here.
Anish is the founder of “Let’s Chat FPL” and creates FPL content such as threads, stats and other updates on his page @letschatfpl on Twitter.