The long international break is over and the Bundesliga is the first major European league to play this weekend. That's right Serie A fans. Your precious match begins a whole 15 minutes after kickoff in Germany. Anyways, it took until Matchday 4 until we saw our first scoreless draw in the Bundesliga. Let's not see that replicated this week. We want goals, goals and more goals.
Bundesliga Preview, Matchday 5: Can Hamburg Get Out From The Foot Of The Table?
Hamburg are sitting at the foot of the table and have looked absolutely terrible in every match this year. Will they get their first win under Michael Oenning on Matchday 5? Also, Bayern Munich host Freiburg, Dortmund host Berlin and other Bundesliga action.
Friday, September 9
FC Augsburg vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Leverkusen travels to struggling Augsburg with the goal of getting their struggling offense on track. After four games this season they’ve only been able to scrounge of two goals. Yeah, they can win every game 1-0, but every Werkself supporter wants to keep pace with Bayern and Dortmund by putting 3-4-5 goals past their opponents. Andre Schürrle, Sidney Sam and Renato Augusto will be looking to stretch their legs and run at the Augsburg defense. I’d expect goals to come from Leverkusen in this one. Bernd Leno will be looking to keep his fourth straight clean sheet in the net. The 19 year old loanee from Stuttgart has been outstanding in his first three appearances for Leverkusen, and I’d expect this run to continue this week. Pick: FC Augsburg 0 - 3 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Saturday, September 10
Borussia Dortmund vs Hertha BSC Berlin
Matchday 4 was unkind to the champs as they weren’t very good against Leverkusen, and they saw the sensational Mario Götze pick up a red card after an uncharacteristic bit of petulance in kicking out at Hanno Balitsch. Jürgen Klopp has a decision to make in who replaces Götze in the starting eleven. The three candidates are Ivan Perišić, Jakub Błaszczykowski and Moritz Leitner. Kuba is the likely replacement, but I think this is the opportunity to give Perišić his first start in the Dortmund shirt. He’s appeared as a substitute in every match so far this year, and his creativity on the pitch will be needed in an attempt to replace Götze. Hertha Berlin won their first match since their return to the Bundesliga this season in Matchday 4 against Stuttgart. It was their first home win in the Bundesliga since August 2009. Cherish that victory Hertha. Pick: Borussia Dortmund 2 - 0 Hertha BSC Berlin
FC Bayern Munich vs SC Freiburg
Freiburg were one of the big winners in the transfer window when they held on to Papiss Cisse. He's been excellent so far and is joint top scorer with Mario Gomez and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Gomez was questionable to appear in this match, but everything that I've read he seems ready to go. Cisse will be a good test for a much improved Bayern defense. After four league matches, the only goal conceded was an awful mistake by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The big question for manager Jupp Heynckes will be whether Jerome Boateng or Daniel Van Buyten partners with Holger Badstuber in central defense. Van Buyten has been preferred in the last three matches, and I would expect this trend to continue for the time being. Toni Kroos will be called back into action with Arjen Robben missing this match due to injury. Unfortunately the addition of Kroos to the lineup means that Thomas Müller will be shoved out wide where he's less effective. Pick: FC Bayern Munich 2 - 0 SC Freiburg
1. FSV Mainz 05 vs 1899 Hoffenheim
The Hoff will be without leading goalscorer Sejad Salihovic who was injured while on international duty with Bosnia and Herzegovina. With Vedad Ibisevic already out due to an injury, manager Holger Stanislawski will be needing more contribution from Ryan Babel and Roberto Firmino. For Mainz, Sami Allagui remains the guy up top, and he'll need a good performance to get the home side going in this one. Pick: 1. FSV Mainz 05 1 - 1 1899 Hoffenheim
VfB Stuttgart vs Hannover 96
Stuttgart dominated Schalke on opening day winning three points. Since then they’ve been... not so good. They’ve only taken one point from matches against Mönchengladbach, Leverkusen and Hertha Berlin. They’er a little beat up from injuries at the moment, but they’ll need to band together and keep their defensive shape in order to beat an excellent Hannover team this weekend. Mohammed Abdellaoue has his goal scoring boots on to begin the year, and I’ll think he’ll like his chances against this Stuttgart defense if they put in the same performance they did against Hertha. Pick: VfB Stuttgart 1 - 2 Hannover 96
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs 1. FC Kaiserslautern
I’d love to sit here and tell you how Kaiserslautern are finally going to put in a solid performance and take all three points, but the simple fact is they won’t. I don’t see this group of players being able to put together enough successful results to avoid relegation this year. It also can’t be good for team morale when you ship a regular starter like Ivo Iličević with just hours remaining in the transfer window with no opportunity to bring in a replacement. The über-talented Marco Reus will be doing his best to help his club get back to their winning ways after last week’s setback against Schalke. Gladbach will be relying on Marc-André ter Stegen to keep out the few shots that Kaiserslautern can scrounge up Saturday. Pick: Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 - 0 1. FC Kaiserslautern
SV Werder Bremen vs Hamburger SV
Could Michael Oenning gotten Hamburg off to a worse start this season? Yes. He could have. The club could have 0 points instead of 1. HOW DOES THIS TEAM HAVE ONLY 1 POINT!?!? I don't see how Oenning keeps his job if Hamburg don't take all three points on the road in Bremen this weekend. It's not an impossible task, but they have to win this game. Otherwise, Oenning should go. Bremen will be adjusting to the loss of centerback Per Mertesacker to Arsenal. Hamburg have two extremely talented forwards in Paulo Guerrero and Mladen Petrić. ATTACK, Mr. Oenning. The team benefits either way with either a victory or your firing. Pick: SV Werder Bremen 1 - 2 Hamburger SV
Sunday, September 11
1. FC Köln vs 1. FC Nürnberg
Almost not-shockingly, Köln survived the transfer window without shipping Lukas Podolski to Turkey. Did they do anything to make their team better though? Not at all. They had all summer to do something and did nothing. They've given up the second most goals in the league after four matches. Who's given up the most? Last place Hamburg has. On the other side, Nürnberg has beaten Hertha and Augsburg. They've been beaten by Hannover and Dortmund. Hardly evidence that they're a great or even good team. It just tells me that they're not bad. Pick: 1. FC Köln 0 - 1 1. FC Nürnberg
VfL Wolfsburg vs FC Schalke 04
I picked Schalke as a dark horse for the championship to being the season. At the moment I like that choice. Since their opening day defeat at Stuttgart, Schalke has put together an impressive series of victories. The Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has been at the top of his game and appears to be thoroughly enjoying his soccer. Being able to play lowly Wolfsburg after the international break before they host Bayern Munich will be beneficial to Schalke. It allows them to get back into the groove of things before the big match. For Wolfsburg and manager Felix Magath, the beginning of the season has been nothing short of a disaster. There’s not a lot of positive things to say about that club at this point. Magath will be given time to “fix” the mess left by Steve McClaren last year, but the club need to start showing some progress soon. Pick: VfL Wolfsburg 1 - 3 FC Schalke 04
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