If you were to look at the current winner’s odds for the 2022/23 Bundesliga, you’d see that Bayern Munich (who have won the last 10 titles) were the overwhelming favourites to prevail at an average price of 1/12.
Not only does this offer little in the way of tangible value if you want to bet with Linebet, but it’s also hardly reflective of a league table that currently sees the Bavarian side in second place and four points off the top.
Incredibly, the current front-runners are Union Berlin, who have earned 23 points from their 10 league matches to date and beat an excellent Borussia Dortmund side 2-0 at home in their last outing.
However, Union Berlin are still priced at a distant 33/1 with some sportsbooks to win their maiden Bundesliga crown. In this post, we’ll take a look at the side’s rise to the top of the table, while asking whether Union Berlin can overcome their more experienced rivals?
Exploring Berlin’s Rise to the Top
For the final few minutes of Union Berlin’s recent 2-0 win over Dortmund at the former’s Stadion An Der Alten Foresterei, every corner of the ground vibrated to the fan’s increasingly iconic anthem.
Translating into “Our love. Our team. Our pride. Our club.”, this has become a soundtrack for Berlin’s recent success, which began with promotion to the Bundesliga in the 2018/19 season via the play-offs.
Since then, the team have finished 11th, seventh and fifth in consecutive Bundesliga seasons, establishing themselves as a consistent top-flight outfit under the excellent stewardship of manager Urs Fischer.
Despite this incremental improvement, however, few could have anticipated the team’s start to the 2022/23 campaign, which has seen them beat RB Leipzig and hold champions Bayern at home prior to their victory over Dortmund.
The win over Dortmund perfectly embodied Union’s strengths and incredible belief.
After Janik Haberer’s early, clinical and predatory brace, the side chased and harried relentlessly against their more established opponents, remaining the fresher and more energetic of the two sides even as Dortmund retained 77% of the ball.
They also remained a prominent threat on the break too, with the pace and movement of topscorer Sheraldo Becker constantly challenging the space in behind Dortmund’s defence.
So, Can Union Berlin Win the Bundesliga?
Ultimately, it’s hard to fully explain Union Berlin’s gradual ascent to the top of the Bundesliga.
After all, the side has no billionaire benefactor to bankroll the procurement of top-class players, nor is there a single star within the squad who’s could be described as a great or proven performer at the highest level.
They even have one of the smallest grounds in the Bundesliga, although their 23,000-capacity stadium continues to provide a raucous and supportive backdrop for Berlin’s immense domestic success.
This simply reflects how Union Berlin, their manager and owners are managing to squeeze every ounce of potential out of the club, building a unit that’s more than the sum of its parts and capable of beating teams with much better individual players.
Of course, instances of teams like this winning Europe’s top five leagues is rare. Leicester City’s earnest and hard-working group famously won the Premier League at odds of 5,000/1 in 2016, while Montpellier’s 2011/12 Ligue One triumph also deserves a mention.
Nottingham Forest also won the English top-flight a year after promotion in 1977/78, while Hellas Verona’s stunning Serie A win in 1984/85 remains the single greatest shock in the history of Italian football.
However, there’s no doubt that Union Berlin will have to upset the odds to win their maiden Bundesliga title. The good news is that they’ve given themselves a chance to achieve this objective and carve out their own unique slice of history.
