The Bundesliga 2022/23 season is fast approaching. It opens on August 5th with a Friday night opener between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich. Bayern is ten-time defending Bundesliga champions and is in relentless pursuit of extending their record. Perhaps it won't be a walk in the park for them, as the Bundesliga has its fair share of strong teams.
Germany's top flight rarely disappoints in terms of entertainment and high-scoring contests, even though the Bavarians have established a long-term monopoly.
Bundesliga 2022/23 Title Contenders:
When thinking of the potential Bundesliga 2022/23 winners, perennial German champions Bayern first springs to mind, and there is a good reason for that.
Since Jurgen Klopp navigated Borussia Dortmund to a rare Bundesliga title in 2011/12, the Bavarian heavyweights have won ten successive league crowns without breaking a sweat.
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Led by new boss Julian Nagelsmann, Bayern extended their domestic supremacy in emphatic fashion last season, leaving runners-up Dortmund eight points behind.
On top of that, Robert Lewandowski & Co netted a staggering 97 goals at an average of 2.85 per game, summing up their status as Germany's supreme force in a nutshell.
Even though Lewandowski called time on his illustrious eight-year stint at the Allianz Arena to join Barcelona this summer, the Bavarians will be odds-on favourites to maintain their formidable domestic run.
Several high-profile summer additions, including Sadio Mane, Matthijs de Ligt, and Ryan Gravenberch, will provide Nagelsmann with ammunition to keep Bayern at the top of German football.
For years, Dortmund have been forced to play second fiddle to Bayern, with not even Erling Haaland managing to drive them out of the Bavarians' shadow.
Without the Norwegian goalscoring machine in the picture, new boss Edin Terzic will be in a world of trouble as he looks to cut Bayern's long-term dominance short.
A run of three runner-up finishes across the past four Bundesliga seasons suggests Die Borussen are the only viable candidate to fight Nagelsmann's side for the crown.
Unless Terzic finds a way to keep his men competitive in the Der Klassiker showpieces and prevent them from spurning points against so-called 'smaller teams,' they would have to settle for another second-place finish.
Dark Horse Contenders:
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RB Leipzig has been regular in the Champions League since first getting promoted to the Bundesliga in 2016. The Bundesliga title has eluded them in that time despite two second-place finishes. They did win their first major trophy at the end of last season, the DFB-Pokal, to build some momentum under Domenico Tedesco.
Leipzig has an exciting young talent, Christopher Nkunku, who scored 20 Bundesliga goals last season. Andre Silva is just one year removed from a 20-goal season of his own. The pieces of a championship-level team are there but consistency has often been an issue.
Bayer Leverkusen is the only other team with shorter than +10000 odds of winning the Bundesliga 2022/23 title. There are certainly reasons to be excited about them, after finishing last season in third. Patrik Schick, who scored 24 Bundesliga goals last season, signed a contract extension to stay in Leverkusen. This is one of the youngest teams in the Bundesliga and they should certainly get better as time goes on.
Moussa Diaby tallied 13 goals and 12 assists last season and he's only 23. Florian Wirtz established himself as one of Bundesliga's best playmakers as a teenager. He's in the process of recovering from an ACL tear and he should elevate the team when he returns.
Contenders for Champions League:
The abovementioned duo headline a plethora of clubs who will likely battle it out for the four Champions League promotion spots.
During Bayern's ten-year tenure in the Bundesliga, Dortmund have only failed to qualify for Europe's most prestigious cup competition once, courtesy of an underwhelming seventh-place finish in 2014/15.
So barring some highly unexpected developments, the two should be safe and sound regarding their chances of forcing their way into the Champions League.
As ever, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig will be staking their claim for the two remaining top-four places, as was the case last season, where both achieved Champions League promotion.
While Leverkusen strolled to a respectable third-place finish, Leipzig toppled Union Berlin to the coveted fourth spot by the skin of their teeth, doing so on the final day of the season.
Domenico Tedesco's men have been relatively quiet this summer, though Christopher Nkunku's contract extension could be considered a major coup for the Red Bull outfit.
Like Leipzig, Leverkusen have been more focused on keeping hold of their star players, including Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz, than strengthening their squad.
Despite an uneventful recruitment campaign, both sides should be able to replicate last season's feat.
European hopefuls:
Union Berlin and Freiburg defied the odds to secure promotion to the Europa League last season, leaving the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt in their wake.
On top of that, Koln, who fought tooth and nail to avoid relegation in 2020/21, earned their place in the Europa Conference League qualification play-offs.
Once again, the Bundesliga lived up to the billing as one of Europe's most unpredictable elite divisions, as further witnessed by Wolfsburg's embarrassing 12th-place finish.
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However, Frankfurt's morale-boosting Europa League triumph last season and Gladbach's inspiring pre-season showings indicate things could go back to 'normal' next term.
While Oliver Glasner guided Die Adler to a long-awaited continental success in his maiden season at the helm, his side ended up in a horrific 11th place last Bundesliga season.
But after acquiring the signatures of Mario Gotze and Lucas Alario and retaining the services of Filip Kostic and Rafael Santos Borre, Frankfurt will be genuine European contenders in 2022/23.
As for Gladbach, the appointment of Daniel Farke as their new chief of staff bodes well for the club's ambition to leave last season's dreadful bottom-half finish firmly behind them.
Despite losing star forward Breel Embolo to the likes of Ligue 1 powerhouse Monaco, Die Fohlen should feel safe in the hands of the former Norwich City manager.
Farke proved his managerial credentials during his four-year stint at Carrow Road, helping the Canaries book their tickets for the Premier League twice.
Given Union Berlin's performances in 2021/22, it is hard to put it past them to stage another upset this time around, especially considering they narrowly missed out on qualifying for Champions League football.
Watch out for Wolfsburg in Bundesliga 2022/23, who have recruited well this summer, adding several exciting young prospects to their pacey, juvenile squad.
Bundesliga 2022/23 Relegation candidates:
Augsburg and Stuttgart barely kept their heads afloat last season to extend their top-flight status to another campaign.
While the former finished just a point clear of the dreaded play-off relegation spot, a superior H2H record to Hertha BSC helped the latter stay safe.
If it weren't for the household German tactician Felix Magath, Die Alte Dame could have been playing in the second tier in 2022/23.
Augsburg and Stuttgart barely kept their heads afloat last season to extend their top-flight status to another campaign.
While the former finished just a point clear of the dreaded play-off relegation spot, a superior H2H record to Hertha BSC helped the latter stay safe.
If it weren't for the household German tactician Felix Magath, Die Alte Dame could have been playing in the second tier in 2022/23.
Who Will Fill the Lewandowski Void?
We're excited to announce, in our Bundesliga season preview, that there will be a new top scorer this season. Robert Lewandowski, who won the award the last five seasons, is off to La Liga. With Erling Haaland also gone, this is suddenly a very competitive race.
Patrik Schick, as Leverkusen's main man, is the favorite. The Bundesliga top scorer odds price him at +300 and he was the Bundesliga's second-leading scorer last season.
RB Leipzig's versatile Christopher Nkunku was the breakout star of the 2021-22 season and he's drawn a lot of interest from abroad. He scored 35 goals in all competitions last season and had never scored more than seven in a season previously. He sits at +450 odds and will be out to prove he's not a one-season wonder. Teammate Andre Silva, who scored 11 Bundesliga goals last season
Sadio Mane is an interesting pick. Mane has already proved himself in the toughest league in the world and Bayern Munich is without a prolific striker. He and fellow forward/winger Serge Gnabry will certainly be called upon to shoulder the goal-scoring load. Bayern have been linked to Stuttgart's Saša Kalajdžić, though. If the 6'7" striker joins Bayern.
Karim Adeyemi is a bit of a wildcard here. The 20-year-old scored for fun in the Austrian Bundesliga but playing for Borussia Dortmund will be a big step up. Remember, Sebastien Haller is out for the foreseeable future and Donyell Malen is often unconvincing, he could get a lot of opportunities.
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