VfR Aalen vs. Borussia Dortmund (Tuesday)
Dortmund plays 2.Bundesliga side VfR Aalen in Tuesday’s tie. Dortmund are of-course the holders. However, they have been prone to cup upsets. Last season, they avoided two upsets as they beat Düsseldorf on penalties and scraped past Fürth 0-1 after extra time. They had gone out in the earlier rounds in penalties in 2010.
BVB is coming into this one on the back of a 0-2 victory over SC Freiburg. They adjusted well to the snowy conditions. They have matured a lot since 2010 and they should beat Aalen. An upset in this one is seemingly not on the cards.
Likelihood of an upset: 1/10
Schalke 04 vs. SV Sandhausen (Tuesday)
Schalke is another side which has been playing incredibly well recently. They are coming into this one on the back of two away victories against BVB and Arsenal as well as a hard fought 1-0 victory over Nürnberg. SV Sandhausen currently plays in the 2.Bundesliga after achieving promotion last season.
Schalke should win this one easily. Schalke won this competition in 2011 and was one of the semi-finalists in 2010. Last season though, they went out earlier than expected. However, they should stroll to victory in this one. Sandhausen is battling for survival currently as they lie 16th in their division.
Likelihood of an upset: 1/10
Arminia Bielefeld vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Wednesday)
Bielefeld has not seen Bundesliga action for a long time. They were relegated in 2009 following five seasons in the top flight. They currently ply their trade in the 3.Liga. They meet a Bayer Leverkusen side which is extremely prone to cup upsets. They have caused a few in recent seasons and been at the end of a few too.
Last season, they led Düsseldorf, 3-0, but eventually lost the match! They were finalists in the competition in 2009, taking out Bayern on the way. They beat Rapid Wien 0-4 on Thursday and backed it up with a win in the Allianz Arena 1-2. They will be exhausted coming into this one after defending for almost ninety minutes.
Likelihood of an upset: 3/10
Stuttgart vs. St.Pauli (Wednesday)
Stuttgart has picked themselves up after a miserable start to the season. They beat an excellent Eintracht Frankfurt side on Sunday, 2-1. Their opponents are St.Pauli. Pauli was relegated in 2011 after losing to Bayern 1-8. They finished their campaign for promotion in a respectable fourth spot last season.
Pauli has had a torrid season so far and lies in 13th place currently with only two wins to their name. They have good players in the side such as Florian Kringe, Lennart Thy, Mahir Saglik and Marius Ebbers. However, an upset seems unlikely considering their recent form.
Likelihood of an upset: 1/10
Bayern München vs. Kaiserslautern (Wednesday)
The Bayern contingent will be unhappy after their first league loss of the season to Bayer Leverkusen. Bayern dominated the match and lost due to two horribly unlucky goals. Luiz Gustavo and Holger Badstuber are set to miss the match after picking up injuries. Bastian Schweinsteiger could be rested for this one. He looked exhausted against Leverkusen.
Kaiserslautern is one of Bayern’s boogey teams. They were relegated last season. They played Bayern in pre-season. FCK lost 2-3 but managed to trouble Bayern. They will look to do the same. They are yet to lose a match this season and lie third in the 2.Bundesliga.
Likelihood of an upset: 4/10
Fortuna Düsseldorf vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (Wednesday)
The upset in this one would be a Düsseldorf win. Düsseldorf has been welcomed harshly to reality. They lost their last two matches 0-5 and 1-4 to Bayern and Wolfsburg respectively. Gladbach has seemingly come out of a rut. They beat Marseille on Thursday by two goals and pulled off a shock win in Hannover.
Hannover led 0-2. However, Gladbach score three goals in ten minutes to end a home unbeaten run of 22 matches. Gladbach should win this one as Fortuna’s defence has been leaking goals recently. However, considering Gladbach’s troubles this season, an upset could be on the cards.
Likelihood of an upset: 4/10
