Bayern Munich took a giant step towards securing an eight straight title with their win against Dortmund last night. As enjoyable as the Bundesliga is with its fast-paced, high scoring games until it becomes a little more competitive at the very top of the league it's difficult to see how it can truly challenge the Premier League or La Liga at the summit of European football.

Furthermore, it's apparent that this monopoly of the Bundesliga by Bayern isn't particularly helpful in their quest to win the Champions League which given the relative ease with which they are dominating their domestic competitions must be seen as the ultimate marker of success for the current side.

There is a school of thought that suggests it's easier for teams playing in the Bundesliga or Serie A where the competition at the top isn't perhaps as tight to be successful in Europe because they don't have as many "big matches" at the weekends but the truth seems to be that it is precisely the cut and thrust of those kinds of fixtures that best prepares sides for Europes elite cup competition.

Bayern for their part haven't been past the semi-final stage since they last won the competition in 2013 which incidentally is the year they overcame a successful Dortmund team to win the league for the first time in 3 years and begin their current sequence of title wins. Equally, 2014 was the high-water mark for the modern German national team as they won the World Cup, a crown that they so spectacularly failed to defend 4 years later. All in all, the Germany football authorities desperately need to find a means of making the title challenge last just a little bit longer than it has done for 7 out of the last 8 years.

Anyway onto today's matches....

In my previous blog, I suggested that it was becoming apparent that home advantage was decreasing now that the league has switched to behind closed doors. That sequence continued on Sunday with away teams once again dominating proceedings.

A further, more detailed analysis of the way that the current situation is influencing play on the pitch shows that games played without fans are seeing far more playing time within the allotted 90mins. Teams are no longer dilly-dallying at set-pieces, there is less rolling around on the ground trying to get players sent-off and substitutes aren't taking an eternity to make their way onto the field of play.

Why this is happening is anyone's guess? Perhaps the change in behaviour demonstrates the influence that fans have on the way players act or perhaps players have decided that in the current climate where sports connoisseurs are desperate to see any live-action that those same supporters aren't going to be so tolerant of the perpetual play-acting and time-wasting that regularly dominates games.

Whatever the reason, more time actually playing football will almost certainly result in more goals! So here are some juicy odds for anyone who subscribes to that theory

RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin - BTTS 1.82

Augsburg vs Paderborn - Over 2.5 1.81

Hoffenheim vs Koln - BTTS 1.57

Fortuna Dusseldorf v Schalke 04 - Over 2.5 2.20

Union Berlin vs Mainz - BTTS 1.79