Dortmund begins a tough round of closing fixtures with a home match against Stuttgart. Bayern plays Nuremberg in the Franconian-Bavarian derby. Hannover plays Borussia Mönchengladbach in what is perhaps the most intriguing match of the weekend. Schalke, after having been shocked by Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League on Thursday plays Hoffenheim.
Nuremberg-Bayern
Nowadays, this derby is called the ‘Bavarian derby’. For older fans, this is more of a ‘Franconian-Bavarian derby’. The first match between these two sides saw Nuremberg simply thrashed in front of a sell-out crowd at the Allianz Arena. They were nothing more than ‘awestruck bystanders’ in the first game if one is to believe coach Dieter Hecking’s words.
Mario Gomez struck the first and last goal of that match with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery also on target. Bayern will have Schweinsteiger available after he missed out the last Bundesliga fixture with another injury. He featured in midweek against Marseille. Daniel Van Buyten and Breno are both ruled out for Bayern while Alexander Esswein is side-lined for Nuremberg.
Prediction: Nuremberg 0-1 Bayern
Hannover- Mönchengladbach
Hannover put in a good display against Atletico Madrid in the Europa League on Thursday and was unlucky to come away with a 2-1 defeat. They conceded the winner in the 89th minute. Due to the away goal, they still have a great chance of progressing to the semi-finals. Hannover’s previous Bundesliga match saw them lose 2-1 to Bayern.
Gladbach surprisingly went down to Hoffenheim 1-2 last week. It was the nature of the defeat which was surprising as two minutes of madness saw Gladbach lose a 1-0 lead. Gladbach has fallen away from the duo at the top as a result. They now sit fourth in the table, a full nine points behind leaders Dortmund at the time of writing.
Prediction: Hannover 1-1 Gladbach
Hoffenheim- Schalke
Schalke allowed a 2-1 lead to turn into a 2-4 deficit on Thursday against Athletic Bilbao. The heart of Schalke’s defence is very vulnerable especially as their captain Benedikt Höwedes is currently side-lined. On a given weekend, every fan can be almost certain that Schalke will score. Whether they win or not depends on how their defence copes up with the attackers from the opposition.
Hoffenheim has enough attackers in their ranks to trouble Schalke. The Royal Blues of-course beat Leverkusen last weekend. This game promises to the most entertaining Bundesliga fixture this weekend. Schalke has to draw at-least to ensure that Gladbach cannot overtake them with a win. Schalke could easily lose this match due to their poor defence.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 2-2 Schalke
