Hannover’s away form might affect their European ambitions:
Hannover has been dreadful away from home this season. Losing to Düsseldorf is by all means awful for a good side which wants to challenge for Europe. Hannover has done well in the Europa League this season. They have done well at home in the league, beating Bayer Leverkusen and drawing against BVB. However away from home, they have been horrible at times. They were beaten 5-0 by Bayern at the Allianz Arena.
Bayer Leverkusen can punish teams brutally with little possession:
Bayer Leverkusen hardly had any possession against Hamburger SV but still managed to win 3-0 in the weekend. At the Allianz Arena, Bayern dominated but Leverkusen won 1-2. Leverkusen hardly needs any possession to play their game. The problem with Leverkusen is that they have the occasional slip-up which lets other teams pick up points but otherwise Leverkusen is becoming formidable opposition indeed.
Schalke took the easy way out of their problems:
Sacking Huub Stevens seemed to be the easy answer to Schalke’s problems. However, it was Stevens who led them to second place in the Bundesliga table and a first place finish in Group B in the Champions League in the current season. Schalke has a history of self destructing. Sacking Stevens might not be the answer to their problems. A DFB Pokal clash against Mainz in midweek will tell us more about Schalke’s problems.
Freiburg is this season’s surprise package:
Frankfurt has risen to fourth in the Bundesliga table but Frankfurt has been in the big time before. Humble Freiburg sits in fifth place in the table. This is surprising considering that the likes of Mainz and Stuttgart are below them. Freiburg has surprised many teams with their direct play and they have beaten quite a few teams that they weren’t expected to like Stuttgart. Freiburg is definitely this season’s surprise package.
Augsburg and Fürth show that they are both on the way to relegation:
The two played out a 1-1 draw this week. One of the teams needed a win to lift themselves out of the bottom. Unfortunately, the two Bavarian clubs look inept at the moment and will need miraculous results to survive. Whether Markus Weinzierl or Mike Büskens will be around in January is doubtful. Büskens’ sadness was evident during the weekend. Both teams are in desperate need for points. However, points are proving to be very difficult to find for them.
