Everyone can celebrate now that the Bundesliga is back. Yay! The internationals are done for another month, and the players of the German clubs are back in action. Unfortunately, the Bundesliga has deemed it necessary to have Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke all play on Saturday. Luckily for us, BVB are at least playing the late afternoon game.
Bundesliga, Week 5: Bayern Munich host Hannover, Borussia Dortmund want revenge against Hamburg
The Bundesliga returns from the international break with a weekend of intriguing matchups. Saturday sees Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and Schalke in action.
Dennis Grombkowski
Friday, September 13
Hertha Berlin vs. Stuttgart
Stuttgart's Thomas Schneider kicked off his reign as the club's new coach with an impressive 6-2 pummeling of Hoffenheim. While the scoreline is impressive, it must be said that it was just Hoffenheim. I still maintain that Stuttgart has enough talent that Bruno Labbadia should not have started the season so poorly with this club, and his firing was well deserved. Hertha Berlin will be ready to go at home, but I think Stuttgart pulls a victory here.
Time & Location: 20:30 Local / 2:30 PM Eastern; Olympic Stadium, Berlin
Prediction: Hertha Berlin 1 - 2 Stuttgart
Saturday, September 14
Bayern Munich vs. Hannover
The Champions are hosting Hannover this weekend at the Allianz Arena and are entering the match a little beat up. Mario Götze, Thiago Alcantara, and Javi Martinez are both out this weekend, and Bastian Schweinsteiger is still doubtful for the encounter. What does this mean for the lineup? If Schweinsteiger can't go against Hannover, there's several ways that Pep Guardiola can go with the lineup. Who does he want to deploy at the defensive midfielder position? Philipp Lahm, David Alaba, Toni Kroos, and Jan Kirchhoff are all possibilities. For Hannover, they'll be without Szabolcs Huszti and Mame Diouf which makes the match even more difficult than it already is.
Time & Location: 15:30 Local / 9:30 AM Eastern; Allianz Arena, Munich
Prediction: Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Hannover
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Wolfsburg
The match will be intriguing just from the “Can Wolfsburg keep Kießling off the scoreboard?” perspective. He’s one of the most talented forwards in world football but can’t get a game from his national team coach. Whatever. It makes no sense. Kießling, Sidney Sam, and Heung-Min Son have formed quite an intimidating front line, and they’ll look to impose their will on the Wolfsburg defense. Can Dieter Hecking’s side replicate Schalke’s performance in the last matchday?
Time & Location: 15:30 Local / 9:30 AM Eastern; BayArena, Leverkusen
Prediction: Bayer Leverkusen 2 - 1 Wolfsburg
Werder Bremen vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Ugh. Werder Bremen. I like Eintracht Frankfurt and expect them to start putting together simmilar performances to what they showed us last season.
Time & Location: 15:30 Local / 9:30 AM Eastern; Weserstadion, Bremen
Prediction: Werder Bremen 0 - 2 Eintracht Frankfurt
Mainz vs. Schalke
I’m intrigued by this match mostly for the fact that I think that Schalke should’ve given Thomas Tuchel what he wanted to be their head coach instead of settling for Jens Keller. Schalke need a good performance to build upon the last matchday win over Bayer Leverkusen. After a perfect start to the season, Mainz crashed and burned hard with a 4-1 loss to Hannover. You should tune in to the match.
Time & Location: 15:30 Local / 9:30 AM Eastern; Coface Arena, Mainz
Prediction: Mainz 1 - 2 Schalke
Augsburg vs. Freiburg
Freiburg are a better team than Augsburg, and they need to start putting together results on the field. Two points after four matches isn’t good enough. Shape up, Freiburg.
Time & Location: 15:30 Local / 9:30 AM Eastern; SGL Arena, Augsburg
Prediction: Augsburg 0 - 1 Freiburg
Borussia Dortmund vs. Hamburg
Borussia Dortmund will look to avenge two losses to Hamburg last season. Let’s be honest, I would be completely shocked if BVB aren’t going to pull out the victory here. The best news for BVB on the day is that they won’t have to try to defend Heung-Min Son. The forward terrorized BVB last season by scoring four goals in the two matches. Their big summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan has had a very good start to the season and will probably have a field day against Hamburg. What kind of hope do the visitors have on Saturday? Well, they always have a shot at winning. However, I don’t believe that this team has the talent to compete with the “big dogs” of the Bundesliga this season.
Time & Location: 18:30 Local / 12:30 PM Eastern; Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
Prediction: Borussia Dortmund 3 - 0 Hamburg
Sunday, September 15
Hoffenheim vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
I’m really risking with my prediction for this match. While picking Borussia Mönchengladbach to win isn’t the issue, it’s picking a final scoreline of 2-1. Hoffenheim have not only scored the most goals in the Bundesliga thus far this season, but they’ve also conceded the most at twelve each. Gladbach isn’t too far behind them with 10 scored and 8 conceded.
Time & Location: 15:30 Local / 9:30 AM Eastern; Rhein-Neckar Arena, Sinsheim
Prediction: Hoffenheim 1 - 2 Borussia Mönchengladbach
The bottom two teams are sure to produce some type of match. Yeah, “some type” of match. It won’t be a high quality affair, but it could be entertaining. Who knows?
Time & Location: 17:30 Local / 11:30 AM Eastern; Eintracht-Stadion, Braunschweig
Prediction: Eintracht Braunschweig 0 - 1 Nürnberg
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