Bayer Leverkusen should breathe a large sigh of relief on Saturday.
The German Bundesliga club started the season with two awful results, but on Saturday, it has a chance to beat up on Augsburg, a team expected to be in the relegation fight.
Leverkusen lost to third-division club Elversburg in the DFB Pokal and then fell to Borussia Dortmund in the first weekend of Bundesliga action.
Leverkusen may take out all of their frustrations from the last two weeks out on Augsburg, who looked dreadful in a 4-0 home loss to Freiburg on the opening weekend.
The Bundesliga is full of mismatches this weekend featuring the best clubs in the league. The money lines are a little high for the likes of Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, but there are ways to play them outside of the money line.
As for the Premier League, there are a few enticing money line road underdogs on the card and one could cash in against an opponent still finding its footing this season.
Soccer Selections
Overall Record: 2-3
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Augsburg (Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+)
Bayer Leverkusen (-1.5; -110)
Patrick Schick To Score (-165) & To Score Twice (+290)
Bayer Leverkusen needs Saturday's match against Augsburg.
The two poor results to start the season can be forgiven if Leverkusen runs rampant against a likely relegation fighter in Augsburg inside in the BayArena.
Leverkusen beat Augsburg by 5-1 and 4-1 score lines last season and a similar result should play out on Saturday. Augsburg opened the season with a 4-0 defeat to Freiburg and it did not show much promise over 90 minutes.
Saturday's match could set up for Patrik Schick to establish his foothold in a wide-open Golden Boot race. With Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland not in the Bundesliga, Schick is one of a few candidates that could be the leading scorer.
Schick created seven shots and one goal in two matches versus Augsburg last season. I'm taking a flier the Czech forward to score twice because Augsburg's defense looks that bad.
Schick scored on multiple occasions five times in the Bundesliga last season and two of those performances were against relegated sided Greuther Furth and Arminia Bielefeld.
RB Leipzig vs. FC Koln (Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+)
RB Leipzig (-1.5; +120)
RB Leipzig can make a case to be the second-best team in Germany after its acquisition of Timo Werner from Chelsea.
RB Leipzig now has Christopher Nkunku, Andre Silva and Werner to choose from up top. Werner may not play 90 minutes on Saturday, but he should get some sort of cameo against FC Koln.
Koln comes into Saturday as a weaker squad now that Anthony Modeste signed with Borussia Dortmund. Modeste was Koln's main striker as it made a push for European spots last season.
Leipzig beat Koln by two goals at home last season and it earned 10 of its 11 home victories in league play last season by two or more goals.
Koln is not a bad team, but Leipzig has so much more quality in the final third and it plays really well at home and I think that shows over 90 minutes on Saturday.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Fulham (+210) (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)
Fulham looked more impressive than many people thought it would in its return to the Premier League against Liverpool last week.
The 2-2 home draw with Liverpool ignited hope within the Cottagers that they can remain in the English top flight for more than one season, something that they have not achieved in their last two Premier League campaigns.
Fulham is a more complete squad than Wolves going into Saturday. Fulham has a clear-cut top scorer in Aleksandar Mitrovic and its defense held up as well as it could against Liverpool.
Wolves burst out to an early lead against Leeds United, but then struggled to hold on to it last weekend. Wolves are still trying to figure out who the top striker will be. The arrival of Goncalo Guedes from Valencia should help, but Saturday may be too soon for an impact to be made.
Fulham may not win much on the road this season, but the trip to Molineux sets up in its favor because Wolves have an incomplete forward line at the moment.
Brighton (+145) vs. Newcastle (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)
Brighton delivered one of the most impressive performances of the Premier League's opening weekend by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Yes, it still counts as an impressive win because of Brighton's form and not due to the current state of Manchester United.
Graham Potter's side plays at home for the first time this season against a Newcastle United team that struggled on the road last season. Newcastle had the most road losses of any team that finished inside the top 12 and it had the fifth-worst goal differential away from home.
Newcastle picked up a nice opening weekend win over Nottingham Forest, but the opponent's quality increases in Week 2 against an organized Brighton side.
Brighton's back line will not make many mistakes and it could be hard for Newcastle to create a wealth of chances.