Bundesliga Preview: Week 10

FC Bayern versus Freiburg

Friday, 2:30 PM (all times Eastern), TV: GOL TV

The champions looked to be on the ropes again after a poor showing in their nil-all draw against in Hamburg last Friday, and matters only got worse as Claudio Pizarro, the former Bayern player, scored just over a minute into their DFB Pokal tie against Bremen. FCB, still severely hampered by injury problems, managed to turn the match around with two goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger, but were undoubtedly helped by Bremen’s poor finishing in the second half. Freiburg should be more straightforward opponents for Louis van Gaal’s side, and the Bavarians have won nine straight league matches against them. However, Papiss Demba Cissé leads the race for the golden boot with an astonishing eight goals from nine matches - the Senegalese striker alone has scored as many as Bayern have put in the net all season. The visitors are coming off of a Pokal exit at the hands of Cottbus, but given FCB’s struggles going forward they could well get a draw out of this and further dent Bayern’s faint title hopes.

Kaiserslautern versus Mönchengladbach

Saturday, 9:30 AM

After league defeats for both sides last weekend, they each responded with victories in the Pokal, but in strikingly different circumstances. ‘Lautern were deservedly beaten in Freiburg in their last Bundesliga game, but a hat-trick from Srdjan Lakic gave them a solid three-nil victory over 2.Bundesliga opponents Ariminia Bielefeld in midweek. ‘Gladbach’s miserable defensive record continued against Bremen as they conceded four goals and Mohamadou Idrissou spurned several good chances down the other end. However, after failing to win a match since August, ‘Gladbach kept Bayer Leverkusen off the score sheet for a hundred and seven minutes, and after Eren Derdiyok put Bayer ahead, Idrissou equalized almost immediately. Die Fohlen went on to win the tie on penalties, and will look to build on that result against a ‘Lautern team that already looks headed back down to the 2.Bundesliga. Although the visitors’ defence is simply awful, they have enough going forward to threaten ‘Lautern and pick up a win in this early-season relegation battle.

St. Pauli versus Eintracht Frankfurt

Saturday, 9:30 AM

St. Pauli suffered a shock defeat in their first match of the season, a cup match at fourth-division Chemnitzer, so they didn’t have a game this midweek, following a disappointing loss away to Stuttgart. The Hamburg side probably did enough to earn a point, but came away with nothing after being held scoreless for the first time since early September. Frankfurt had the better of the play against Schalke but wasted a few chances and ended up with a draw. In midweek, though, they put five past a nearly full-strength Hamburg side as Theofanis Gekas continued his excellent scoring record for his new club with his third brace of the campaign. This should be an even match - the two sides are only separated by goal difference - and there should be a good atmosphere in the Millerntor-Stadion despite the home side enjoying more success on their travels so far this season.

Werder Bremen versus Nürnberg

Saturday, 9:30 AM

Bremen face their second match against a Bavarian side this week as Nürnberg visit, looking to continue a strong run of form in which they’ve picked up wins in three of their last four matches, scoring nine goals over that period. Of course, if there’s any team (aside from ‘Gladbach) that is almost guaranteed to concede a few, it’s Bremen. Werder have been on patchy form this season and they could struggle against a Nürnberg side that looked confident throughout its win over Wolfsburg. In spite of that, Bremen will benefit from the fact that they are able to spread the play and stretch their visitors, something that Wolfsburg are rarely able to do effectively. Both defences have been pretty leaky and while Nürnberg have been on good form, look for Bremen to score a few and get an important win to keep moving up the table.

Wolfsburg versus Stuttgart

Saturday, 9:30 AM, TV: GOL TV

Steve McClaren’s side have endured a thoroughly mediocre and inconsistent start to the season, and they threw away another point from a winning position in Nürnberg last week. As mentioned, despite the seemingly potent composition of their attack Die Wölfe haven’t been scoring as many as their still poor defence is letting in, and they’ve developed a knack for giving up leads. Stuttgart haven’t had much going for them in the league this year, but have won three straight in all competitions after their extra-time win away to Chemnitzer in midweek, even though the hosts scored just after Ciprian Marica had missed a penalty. Neither side has much confidence about them, which could make for quite an exciting match, and a high-scoring draw could be on the cards.

Köln versus Hamburg

Saturday, 9:30 AM

After another extremely poor performance and correspondingly dismal result against Hannover last week, Köln finally sacked Zvonimir Soldo and replaced him with the U23 coach Frank Schaefer. The move seems to have had an effect, at least in the short term; Köln won for the first time since the twelfth of September as they swept 1860 München aside three-nil in the DFB-Pokal. Hamburg, by contrast, were shockingly beaten by Frankfurt in midweek, but should still be firm favourites for this clash. HSV have had a fairly strong start to the season, and if they can get their attack going they will have too much for the hosts to deal with.

Schalke versus Bayer Leverkusen

Saturday, 12:30 PM, TV: ESPN3.com

Schalke picked up their first win in domestic competitions this month in midweek against FSV Frankfurt, but face a much sterner test this weekend as Leverkusen visit the Veltins Arena. The hosts are still without a home win this season and currently sit in the relegation play-off position, although they are only nine points behind Bayer, who are fifth. Leverkusen are searching for consistency, albeit in the absence of several key players, but they should be able to beat a Schalke side that only kept their first clean sheet of the league season last week against Frankfurt.

Mainz versus Dortmund

Sunday, 10:30 AM, TV: ESPN3.com, ESPN Deportes (tape delay)

While most of the rest of this weekend’s games are not quite as exciting as we’ve come to expect in the Bundesliga, that is more than made up for by this huge clash between the teams first and second in the table. Mainz lead the Westphalian outfit by two points, and a win for the hosts would be a huge step towards a possible meisterschaft. Thomas Tuchel’s side claimed a narrow win against Leverkusen last week, but fell to Alemannia Aachen of the 2.Bundesliga in midweek with a nearly full-strength side. Dortmund left it late but grabbed an equalizer at home against Hoffenheim courtesy of a wonderful free-kick by Antonio da Silva, but they too were beaten in midweek as third-division Kickers Offenbach knocked them out of the cup on penalties (Dortmund, too, played a nearly full-strength team). Clearly something has to give in this match, but both sides are quite strong and they may cancel each other out. Both Tuchel and Jürgen Klopp like their teams to press high up the pitch against the other top sides, and both sides have several exciting young talents - Lewis Holtby, Andre Schürrle, Shinji Kagawa and Nuri Sahin, just to name a few. This should be a fast-paced and aggressive game, and both teams have shown that they have the mental strength to come from behind, so late drama is quite possible in this title clash.

Hoffenheim versus Hannover

Sunday, 12:30 PM, TV: GOL TV (tape delay)

Although this match comes right after what should be the game of the weekend, it may also be quite intriguing. Hoffenheim conceded a stoppage-time equalizer in Dortmund last week, but were fairly fortunate to hold on for that long after being pinned back in their own defensive third for most of the second half. Hannover have been performing above expectations this year and recorded a solid two-one win over a dreadful Köln side last Saturday, but have had trouble scoring on their travels and could have trouble against a Hoffenheim side that is averaging more than two goals a game at home. After a loss to FC Bayern, who have had their number in recent years, and a win over Köln, a team that has looked destined for the drop, this match will be a serious test of Hannover’s credentials for getting into Europe this season. Hoffenheim should be favourites here, but if they can’t conjure up more opportunities for Demba Ba and Peniel Mlapa, Hannover could well get something out of this match.