Borussia Dortmund continue to impress both in the Bundesliga and in the UEFA Champions League. Five other teams continue to try and keep pace with BVB. Schalke continue to be in the bottom three. As Germany falls back an hour on Sunday, we spring forward. Welcome to Matchday 9.
SC FREIBURG vs. BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH (Friday at 1:30pm CT, FS2)
Nils Petersen should return to action after recovering for a shoulder injury and Mike Frantz should also be available after a calf injury. Freiburg’s last two matches were draws (1-1 vs. Hertha and 0-0 vs. Bayer Leverkusen), they face a Gladbach team that has scored seven in their last two matches while conceding none.
The Foals have been unbeaten at home, but have won just once in their last 16 at Schwarzwald-Stadion and have lost seven of their last eight. But also, Gladbach are off to their best start in 31 years and have no major injury concerns. Gladbach has scored in their last 14 Bundesliga matches which is the longest current streak.
MAINZ 05 vs. BAYERN MUNICH (Saturday at 8:30am CT, FS2)
After conceding just four goals in their first seven league matches, they gave up that many against Gladbach last week. They are still on four goals scored. The 05ers are winless in their last five matches, but are unbeaten at home with two wins and two draws. Danny Latza and Philipp Mwene could come in to bolster the midfield after coming off the bench last weekend.
Bayern appear to be turning a corner after wins over Wolfsburg and AEK Athens over the past seven days. Lewandowski scored twice against the Wolves while James Rodriguez got on the board as well. However, Arjen Robben will be suspended while Franck Ribery might not be risked after missing the AEK match. Thomas Muller might start in his place. It will be a match between the oldest squads based on average age in Bayern against the league’s youngest in Mainz.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs. HERTHA BERLIN (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Plus)
Comparisons are already being made between Lucien Favre’s team and the 2010-11 team of Jurgen Klopp. BVB are top of the table and have won five on the bounce in the league and seven in all competitions. However, Paco Alcacer may not start due to the thigh strain after being left out of BVB’s 4-0 thrashing of Atletico Madrid.
The Capital Club have drawn their last two matches after their win over Bayern in Matchday 6. Niklas Stark and Karim Rekik look set to return in the back while Jordan Torunarigha and Marko Grujic may not. Hertha may need to limit BVB’s shots. They have allowed 127 shots on target this season while Dortmund average a goal every four shots on target.
HANNOVER 96 vs. FC AUGSBURG (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)
Bobby Wood is hoping to last 90 minutes for Hannover. Last week, he was the player sacrificed after Felipe was sent off against Leverkusen. Wood has yet to play more than 71 minutes in a match this season. However, Hannover have moved out of the bottom three after a win and a draw in their last two matches after a return of just two points from the first six matches.
Alfred Finnbogason scored a hat trick on his return in Matchday 7 and scored again against Dortmund, but left the match after a fever he picked up while on international duty with Iceland. Augsburg has struggled winning just once from their last seven matches, but are still ninth in the table.
FORTUNA DUSSELDORF vs. VfL WOLFSBURG (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)
Fortuna come into this match bottom of the table and losers of four on the trot. Losing 7-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt. “Hardly anyone did anything against Frankfurt to deserve to play again next weekend.”last week did not help,” said coach Friedhelm Funkel who may be pondering changes galore.
Wolfsburg have done no better being winless in their last six matches. As a result, they are 10th and just four points better than their opponents at the moment. They have not lost a competitive match to Fortuna, though.
TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM vs. VfB STUTTGART (Saturday at 11:30am, FS2)
Hoffenheim have won just twice in their last nine competitive matches, but a 3-3 draw with Lyon gives them hope that they can turn things around. Andrej Kramaric scored twice against Lyon and is looking to transfer that form to domestic play.
Markus Weinzierl’s debut as Stuttgart manager was four-gettable after a 4-0 defeat to Dortmund. Only by conceding the odd goal fewer than Fortuna keeps them from the bottom of the Bundesliga. Stuttgart’s leading scorer Mario Gomez has scored 12 times in 14 matches against Hoffenheim.
FC NÜRNBERG vs. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (Sunday at 7:30am CT, FS2)
While Stuttgart have shipped 17 goals and Fortuna have shipped 18, Nürnberg has done one worse at 19. They face a Frankfurt squad that put seven past Fortuna last week. Mikael Ishak is still out with an injury while Tim Leibold is back from suspension.
As if pondering how to stop Luka Jovic after his five-goal outburst may be a puzzle to FCN, Ante Rebic is coming back from suspension. There’s also Sebastian Haller who has had direct involvement in more goals this season than anyone else having scored five times and tallying five assists.
RB LEIPZIG vs. SCHALKE 04 (Sunday at 9:30am CT, FS2)
Leipzig were held by Augsburg last week, but they are still unbeaten in their last eight competitive matches and were comfortable 2-0 winners over Celtic in the UEFA Europa League. That said, look for some squad rotation that includes Timo Werner returning to the lineup.
The team that finished second last season find themselves third from bottom at the moment. Naldo was out ill against Galatasaray at midweek and is unlikely to feature against Die Roten Bullen. Schalke has a league-high six losses on the season. Weston McKennie mat return to the lineup after being a sub in midweek.
WERDER BREMEN vs. BAYER LEVERKUSEN (Sunday at 12:00pm, FS1)
Bremen are off to their best start in 13 years and currently sit third in the table. Josh Sargent may finally appear to the first team after coach Florian Kohfeldt declared his time with the U-23s ‘over’. Sargent scored in a friendly on Tuesday against Arminia Bielefeld.
Leverkusen are coming off a 2-2 draw against Hannover and a 3-2 loss to FC Zurich in the Europa League. Jonathan Tah may come back to the lineup after missing the match on Thursday. Die Werkself are hoping Kevin Volland can regain his goalscoring touch as he has scored just twice this season (both against Fortuna on Matchday 5).
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
