Bundesliga Preview, Week 13: Bayer Leverkusen Against Bayern Munich Headlines An Even Round Of Matches

Schalke 04 vs. Werder Bremen

Saturday, 9:30 AM, TV: GOL TV

Although neither side is on great form, this has the potential to be an exciting contest between a pair of sides looking to move up the table after poor starts. Schalke 04 picked up their first home win of the Bundesliga season two weeks ago, came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw with Wolfsburg last weekend, and have looked much better in attack recently, although they are still in 16th place. The visitors, by contrast, have been on very poor goalscoring form - they haven’t hit the back of the net in their last three matches, although they did manage to hold Eintracht Frankfurt to a 0-0 draw last week after four successive defeats in all competitions. The match against Frankfurt was just the second clean sheet Bremen have recorded in the league this season, and considering the poor defensive records of both sides this match has the makings of an entertaining and high-scoring game.

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Hoffenheim

Saturday, 9:30 AM

Eintracht Frankfurt had been on an excellent run of form before being held by Bremen last week at the Weserstadion, and will be looking to get back to winning ways against a Hoffenheim side that is also coming off some poor results. Hoffe had taken three wins from four in all competitions before falling to Hamburg, and a stoppage time goal cost them a point at home to Freiburg. This should be a very even game - the sides are separated by just two points, and a win for either would be a big step towards European football next season.

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Mainz 05

Saturday, 9:30 AM, TV: ESPN3.com

Can it get worse for Mainz 05? Surely not -- they’ve lost their last three matches in the Bundesliga without scoring a single goal. They created very few opportunities at home against Hannover, even after Steve Cherundolo had been sent off in the second half, and lost 1-0. Borussia Mönchengladbach, though, are on a fantastic high after thumping Cologne 4-0 last week. Fortunately for Mainz, ‘Gladbach have yet to win at Borussia-Park this season and still have the worst defence (and home defence) in the Bundesliga. If Mainz are going to break their scoring slump, they won’t have any easier chance than this week. Thomas Tuchel’s side have got to be favourites for this one - as bad of a couple weeks as they’ve had, they are surely good enough to beat ‘Gladbach.

Nürnberg vs. Kaiserslatuern

Saturday, 9:30 AM

Nürnberg will be looking to get back on track this week after a very disappointing defeat away to FC Bayern in the Bavarian Derby. They fell 3-0 and were quite poor at the Allianz Arena as they created few chances and were ripped apart several times at the back. However, they have an excellent home record (four wins from five and the fourth-best home defence in the league) and will fancy their chances against Kaiserslautern, whose solitary away win of the season came on the opening day. ‘Lautern picked up a point at home to Stuttgart last week in shocking fashion, coming back from 3-0 down with just over a half-hour left to draw 3-3. The visitors have been creating some chances, but will surely be overmatched by FCN, who will want to make amends for their derby loss in front of their home fans.

SC Freiburg vs. Borussia Dortmund

Saturday, 9:30 AM

On the face of it, this game is a serious mismatch. Borussia Dortmund are flying high at the top of the table and have a perfect record away from home this season, and have been wiping the floor with just about everyone they face. Freiburg don’t have a great-looking squad, and surely the depth and quality of the visitors will win out. However, the hosts have kept clean sheets in their last two Bundesliga matches -- difficult tests at home against Mainz and away to Hoffenheim -- and they’ve won their last three home games. Freiburg will not be easy opponents for Dortmund, but given BVB’s sensational form both in attack and at the back, the visitors are certainly favourites.

Hannover 96 vs. Hamburg SV

Saturday, 9:30 AM

The hosts got back to winning ways with a 1-0 away victory against Mainz last week, and will be looking to improve on their 7th place as they make a somewhat unexpected charge for European football. Hamburg SV haven’t played with much consistency this season and that showed again last week against Borussia Dortmund. After a dire first half, BVB charged out of the gate in the second and claimed a deserved 2-0 victory. Hannover 96 have also been inconsistent, and their defensive record at home is one of the poorest in the Bundesliga, making this contest a rather unpredictable one. Still, Die Roten are probably in better shape than HSV after their win last weekend, and will be aided by the visitors’ long list of injuries to important players.

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich

Saturday, 12:30 PM, TV: ESPN3.com, ESPN Deportes (tape delay)

This is undoubtedly the key match of the weekend - it’s second against sixth, and the sides are separated by five points, but both still think they can win the Bundesliga title this season (although Borussia Dortmund’s form indicates otherwise). Both have been hampered by injury problems, but are starting to get a few players back and build up some form. Bayer Leverkusen have won their last three matches after a late winner in Hamburg last week against St. Pauli, and moved ahead of Mainz into second thanks to their superior goalscoring record. However, their home form has been pretty poor, with just eight points claimed from a possible eighteen, and they’ve conceded almost two goals per game at the BayArena.

That’s exactly the kind of defending that Bayern Munich need to be up against away from home -- the reigning champions have scored the second-fewest goals in the division on their travels (just five in as many games). Louis van Gaal’s side picked up an important win in the Bavarian Derby last week against Nürnberg thanks to two goals from Mario Gómez and a penalty from Philipp Lahm, and are slowly getting key players back from injury. Breno played his first competitive minutes for eight months last Sunday, Diego Contento played a full match in midweek for the reserves in a friendly, and Frank Ribéry played seventy-five minutes in the same game. The latter caused an immediate impact when he came off the bench against Nürnberg, but will likely be restricted to a substitute appearance in this match as he is not yet completely fit. Both matches between the two sides finished as 1-1 draws last season, as Leverkusen responded quickly to going a goal down each time. This match will probably be different as both sides need to attack in order to close the gap on runaway leaders Dortmund, and there could be a few goals scored at each end against this pair of injury-weakened defences.

Stuttgart vs. Cologne

Sunday, 9:30 AM, TV: GOL TV (tape delay)

With Cologne in last and Stuttgart just three points above them, this is certainly the weekend’s relegation six-pointer. Stuttgart were just starting to build up a bit of form after dismantling Bremen two weeks ago and found themselves 3-0 up against Kaiserslautern in the second half, but contrived to throw away the three-goal advantage and only came away with a point. Cologne are surely in still worse shape as they fell to a disastrous 4-0 defeat at home to fellow strugglers ‘Gladbach last weekend, and have claimed just one point from eighteen on their travels this season. Neither side is playing with great confidence, and Stuttgart’s top home attack in the league is a mirage - thirteen of the eighteen goals they’ve scored at the Mercedes-Benz Arena have come in two matches. As is the theme for many of this weekend’s games, this is a tight one, though Stuttgart should be slight favourites.

St. Pauli vs. Wolfsburg

Sunday, 11:30 AM

This is not the most glamourous of fixtures to close out the Bundesliga weekend, but both of these sides play good football and are separated by just a single point in the table. St. Pauli, despite their largely enterprising approach, have lost their last four matches and scored just once in that time, and fell to an eighty-first minute goal by Renato Augusto against Bayer Leverkusen last week. Wolfsburg, as has become their custom, took a two-goal lead at home to Schalke, but threw it away (the third time they’ve done so this season) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar spurned a good chance to win it late on. Both sides are on poor form and a score draw looks likely here, though Wolfsburg will take heart from the knowledge that despite the great atmosphere in the Millertor-Stadion, St. Pauli have won just once there this season.