Kevin Hatchard's European Tips: Sunday spectaculars on the cards in Germany and Spain

Elversberg v Bayern Munich - Minnows won't die wondering

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Sunday 13 September, 16:30
Live on Amazon Prime PPV

The rise of Elversberg is the kind of remarkable story that German football specialises in. The club has made it into the Bundesliga for the first time after a couple of years of knocking on the door, and they plotted their ascent carefully. Sporting director Ole Book proved his mettle in the transfer market before earning a high-profile move to Borussia Dortmund, and SVE have earned a reputation for developing youngsters who have been brought in on loan from the big hitters.

Spiesen-Elversberg itself has a population of just over 13,000, it doesn't have a train station or a town hall, and much to the fascination of bread-loving Germans it only has three bakeries. If every single resident went to cheer on Elversberg at the Ursapharm Arena, there would still be seats left over.

Elversberg were in the fourth tier as recently as 2022, but their introduction to the top division has so far been a successful one. A 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen was followed by a jaw-dropping comeback at Borussia Mönchengladbach, as Vincent Wagner's team recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 with a stoppage-time goal.

Now Elversberg will face mighty Bayern Munich for the first time in their history on Sunday, and I'm expecting a goal-fest. Bayern were held to a 0-0 draw at Schalke last weekend, bringing to an end a run of 59 competitive fixtures with at least one goal. They also failed to score in the first half of Wednesday's Champions League game against Bodo Glimt, but made up for that in the second half by holding their own Goal of the Season competition. Alphonso Davies fired a rocket of a shot into the net from the edge of the box, and Michael Olise scored what has become his trademark curler into the top-left corner.

Elversberg have scored seven goals and conceded five already, and they'll take a swing at Bayern here. I'll back Harry Kane to score, Over 3.5 Goals and Both Teams To Score on a Bet Builder at 5/42.25. England captain Kane has had a slow start by his standards, but has still scored three goals in five competitive fixtures.

Levante v Barcelona - Brazilian ace to score again

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Sunday 13 September, 15:15
Live on Premier Sports

It was raining buckets in Barcelona in midweek, and it was raining goals as well as the Catalans shredded poor old Feyenoord 5-1 in the Champions League. Raphinha (my tip to be Champions League top scorer at 17/118.00) netted twice, and he has shown he can spearhead the attack now that Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres have moved on. The Brazilian ace has scored in all five of his competitive appearances this season, and has a tally of eight goals already.

Barcelona have a perfect record in La Liga, but I believe Levante can score against them on Sunday. The Valencia-based club survived the drop last term with a late surge, and they have started this campaign with a respectable tally of five points from four games. Betis were thrashed 5-2 in Levante's only home game so far, and stretching back into last season they have won their last six La Liga games at the Ciutat de Valencia.

Levante haven't failed to score in a La Liga home game since mid-February, so I'll back Both Teams To Score and Raphinha to score at 17/102.70 on the Bet Builder.

Lille v Troyes - Japanese goal-getter worth backing

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Sunday 13 September, 14:00
Live on Ligue 1 Pass

Lille have developed a reputation for buying low and selling high, and they've done it again with their forwards this summer. Matias Fernandez-Pardo was sold to Newcastle for £51million, while Japanese international Ayase Ueda has been recruited from Feyenoord for less than a third of that price.

Ueda has made a fine start, scoring the winner in a 1-0 success at Toulouse on his debut and netting in a losing cause against Betis in midweek. If you count his recent games for Feyenoord, Ueda has now scored in his last five competitive matches.

At 6/52.20 on the Sportsbook I'll back Ueda to score again here against Troyes. The newly-promoted side made a good start as they held Paris FC and won at Lorient, but they then suffered a 6-2 shellacking at the hands of Strasbourg. I suspect Ueda will get chances to add to his tally.

Now read Kev's Sunderland v Arsenal preview here!