Dortmund, Bayern, Gladbach on road in Bundesliga

Soccer Betting Lines

02/17/2012 - Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund visits struggling Hertha Berlin on Saturday in the Bundesliga without injured playmakers Shinji Kagawa and Mario Gotze, as the top three clubs all face road challenges this weekend.

Dortmund is undefeated in 15 straight games, but its cushion atop the table is just two points over Bayern Munich, and three over Monchengladbach.

Although the trio all play teams in the bottom four of the standings, dropping points this weekend could shuffle the order after 22 matches.

Dortmund lost Kagawa to an ankle injury this week, leaving it without its best playmakers, as Gotze remains out with a groin injury. But Hertha has lost four in a row, and sits just three points off the bottom.

Bayern visits last-place Freiburg on Saturday, as it tries to build momentum for its trip to Basel in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday. But Bayern defender Jerome Boateng said this week "we can't let that get on our minds."

Coach Jupp Heynckes has limited options in defense with Daniel van Buyten out, but Thomas Muller has regained good form and Arjen Robben could earn a larger role after starting on the bench the last two games.

Heynckes is prepared for a tough match, although Freiburg has just 17 points.

"We can't simply show up in Freiburg and expect to win," Heynckes said.

Monchengladbach has quietly remained near the top of the standings and it goes to 16th-place Kaiserslautern, which has lost its last two games and is winless in its last 11.

Werder Bremen, well behind the top clubs in fifth, visits improving Hamburg on Saturday, when Bayer Leverkusen hosts Augsburg and Nurnberg hosts Cologne in the day's other matches.

On Sunday, fourth-place Schalke will try to remain with the top group when it hosts Wolfsburg, and Hannover hosts Stuttgart in another meeting of top-half sides.

On Friday, Mohamed Zidan just before the half-hour mark to erase an early own goal and Mainz tied Hoffenheim, 1-1, at Rhein-Neckar-Arena.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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