A week after asserting their dominance over Schalke, Bayern Munich will host a Bayer Leverkusen team that was embarrassed last week against Köln. Hamburg travels to Stuttgart on Friday in an attempt to find their first win of the season less than a week after Michael Oenning was sacked after a disastrous start to the season.
German Bundesliga 2011, Week 7 Preview And Fixtures: Bayern Munich Look To Continue Stellar Form
Bayern Munich look to continue their stellar form against Bayer Leverkusen. In other games, Schalke face Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund face Mainz.
Friday, September 23
VfB Stuttgart vs Hamburger SV
Hamburg are sitting on 1 point after 6 matches in one of the worst starts for a club of that stature that I’ve ever seen. Michael Oenning was sacked earlier this week and assisstant Rodolfo Cardoso will be taking over in a caretaker position until the new coach is chosen. This is a dangerous game for Stuttgart with Hamburg possibly getting that “We just fired a coach.” bump. Stuttgart have the quality to win this and Hamburg are probably still awful. Pick: VfB Stuttgart 2 - 1 Hamburger SV
Saturday, September 24
FC Schalke 04 vs SC Freiburg
Schalke will be looking to get back on the right track with Freiburg visiting Gelsenkirchen. They weren't able to create enough chances last week against Bayern, but they should find things much easier against Freiburg. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raul should get involved early and make quick work of a struggling Freiburg side. Freiburg may not (likely won't) get a victory at Schalke, but I think it's safe to say Papiss Cisse will get a few opportunities to score. Pick: FC Schalke 04 3 - 1 SC Freiburg
1. FSV Mainz 05 vs Borussia Dortmund
Paging Borussia Dortmund. You are wanted to replace the team of pretenders that has taken your place of the last several weeks. After a shock loss to Hertha Berlin and a disappointing draw with Arsenal in the Champions League, Dortmund were stunned last week when Hannover scored two goals in the last three minutes to take all three points in an improbable victory. They'll need to focus for all 90 minutes this week if they'll be looking to get back to their winning ways. Good new for Dortmund fans, Lucas Barrios will find his way to the Dortmund bench for the first time this season. He has been out since picking up an injury in Copa America this summer. Pick: 1. FSV Mainz 05 1 - 2 Borussia Dortmund
VfL Wolfsburg vs 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern picked up their first win of the season last week with an impressive victory against Mainz. Wolfsburg still can't get things going in the right direction. What kind of changes will Felix Magath make to his side to improve things this weekend? The club and Arne Friedrich agreed to the cancellation of his contract. They're a disaster at times defensively, and the improvement has to start in the back. Pick: VfL Wolfsburg 2 - 0 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs 1. FC Nürnberg
I’ve been very stubborn about fully accepting the fact that Gladbach are really a good team this year. They’re a perennial relegation battler, right? Maybe this year will be different. They’ve started brilliantly and, while we are only on game 7 out of 34, look like they might continue this run. This Nürnberg side doesn’t do a lot for me. Pick: Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 - 0 1. FC Nürnberg
FC Augsburg vs Hannover 96
Hannover should pick up the win here. They’re coming off of last week’s huge win and, simply put, they are the better side. Pick: FC Augsburg 0 - 2 Hannover 96
FC Bayern Munich vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayern are coming off an excellent performance against Schalke last week in which they dominated every aspect of the match. It's beginning to look like Bayern could be running away with the title this year, but a simple injury could change things. Wait. Wasn't Mario Gomez out against Schalke? Didn't his replacement Nils Petersen score the opening goal? That's impressive. They've won five matches in a row while allowing zero goals. It appears that this will be Bayern's season to take back their crown. Pick: FC Bayern Munich 3 - 0 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Sunday, September 25
1. FC Köln vs 1899 Hoffenheim
Köln had a very impressive 4-1 victory last week in Leverkusen. Lukas Podolski was very impressive, and the victory was well deserved. Unfortunately, it also came with the loss of captain Pedro Geromel after suffering a tear in his meniscus in his right knee. Hoffenheim has been performing very well this season thanks to some impressive performances from a front three of Ryan Babel, Fabian Johnson and Roberto Firmino. Johnson is now ruled out for about a month after picking up a neck injury. Babel's been very impressive lately and has earned himself a call up to the Dutch national team. Pick: 1. FC Köln 1 - 3 1899 Hoffenheim
SV Werder Bremen vs Hertha BSC Berlin
Both sides are coming off of disappointing draws last week. They both will feel like they dropped two points. Bremen are two points behind Bayern in the table, and they will be looking at a win to keep themselves on the pace. They've coped well with the departure of Per Mertesacker and should pick up a solid win. Pick: SV Werder Bremen 2 - 1 Hertha BSC Berlin
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