Will Bayern suffer a first loss in the Bundesliga this season? Will they extend their lead at the top? These questions will be answered on Match-day 9 of the Bundesliga.
The weekend kicks off with Augsburg and HSV. Augsburg drew 0-0 in their Bavarian derby against Nürnberg last week while HSV suffered their fourth defeat of the season to Stuttgart. Stuttgart plays the second best team in the league currently Eintracht Frankfurt. Frankfurt, the surprise package of this season, has six wins to their name. Their solitary defeat came against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Gladbach this weekend has an extremely tough test against Hannover. Hannover will be looking to defend a 22 match unbeaten run. Considering that Gladbach rolled over for Bremen last weekend, the team will perhaps be shorn off confidence. Hannover was beaten by - yes, you guessed it - Frankfurt, 3-1, last weekend.
Frankfurt is yet to play Schalke or Bayern this season. Schalke takes on Bavarians Nürnberg. Schalke is emerging as one of Bayern’s main contenders to the Bundesliga throne and will look to take all three points from this one. They showed immense maturity in their Ruhr derby victory over Dortmund and will look to continue to put in such mature displays.
Dortmund will aim to stay in touch with the automatic Champions League spots. The dream of a third title in a row has seemingly been torn apart by Bayern’s wonderful form and Borussia’s recent woes. The gap between the two sides is already a huge twelve points. Last season, when Bayern met Dortmund on Match-day 13, the gap was 8 points only.
Dortmund plays Freiburg this week. Freiburg is doing well in the league and is coming onto this match with a lot of confidence following a 0-2 win over Wolfsburg. Freiburg has troubled Dortmund even though Dortmund has won out in their recent encounters. Considering Dortmund’s recent injury woes, Freiburg has a good chance to steal a point or even three from this one.
Wolfsburg, by the way, travels to Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf’s defence was found out by Bayern rather cruelly last weekend. Düsseldorf conceded two more goals in one match than they had in the entire campaign so far. After a five goal thrashing, it is obviously difficult to recover. However, when the team which has beaten you is Bayern, the best thing to do is to just move on and concentrate on the next match.
Bayern might actually be tested this weekend unlike most weekends. A Bayer Leverkusen side capable of troubling the best defences and the joint holder of the unwanted ‘treble runner-up’ title will arrive this week to the Allianz Arena. Bayern last season lost to Leverkusen 0-2.
They however beat Leverkusen in the home fixture in both the last two seasons. They won 3-0 last season and 5-1 in early 2011. Bayern’s fellow Bavarians, Greuther Fürth plays a highly inconsistent Bremen side. Bremen should win this one but Thomas Schaaf knows the Fürth players can trouble his backline. Fürth last week put in three past Hoffenheim in a 3-3 draw.
Hoffenheim takes on Mainz in what should be a highly entertaining affair. Mainz has found some consistency this season. Hoffenheim however remains highly inconsistent.
Tune in this weekend to find out what the best German sides can produce in their domestic league. By the measure of their performances in Europe, this weekend promises to be entertaining and highly dramatic!
Gladbach this weekend has an extremely tough test against Hannover. Hannover will be looking to defend a 22 match unbeaten run. Considering that Gladbach rolled over for Bremen last weekend, the team will perhaps be shorn off confidence. Hannover was beaten by - yes, you guessed it - Frankfurt, 3-1, last weekend.
Frankfurt is yet to play Schalke or Bayern this season. Schalke takes on Bavarians Nürnberg. Schalke is emerging as one of Bayern’s main contenders to the Bundesliga throne and will look to take all three points from this one. They showed immense maturity in their Ruhr derby victory over Dortmund and will look to continue to put in such mature displays.
Dortmund will aim to stay in touch with the automatic Champions League spots. The dream of a third title in a row has seemingly been torn apart by Bayern’s wonderful form and Borussia’s recent woes. The gap between the two sides is already a huge twelve points. Last season, when Bayern met Dortmund on Match-day 13, the gap was 8 points only.
Dortmund plays Freiburg this week. Freiburg is doing well in the league and is coming onto this match with a lot of confidence following a 0-2 win over Wolfsburg. Freiburg has troubled Dortmund even though Dortmund has won out in their recent encounters. Considering Dortmund’s recent injury woes, Freiburg has a good chance to steal a point or even three from this one.
Wolfsburg, by the way, travels to Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf’s defence was found out by Bayern rather cruelly last weekend. Düsseldorf conceded two more goals in one match than they had in the entire campaign so far. After a five goal thrashing, it is obviously difficult to recover. However, when the team which has beaten you is Bayern, the best thing to do is to just move on and concentrate on the next match.
Bayern might actually be tested this weekend unlike most weekends. A Bayer Leverkusen side capable of troubling the best defences and the joint holder of the unwanted ‘treble runner-up’ title will arrive this week to the Allianz Arena. Bayern last season lost to Leverkusen 0-2.
They however beat Leverkusen in the home fixture in both the last two seasons. They won 3-0 last season and 5-1 in early 2011. Bayern’s fellow Bavarians, Greuther Fürth plays a highly inconsistent Bremen side. Bremen should win this one but Thomas Schaaf knows the Fürth players can trouble his backline. Fürth last week put in three past Hoffenheim in a 3-3 draw.
Hoffenheim takes on Mainz in what should be a highly entertaining affair. Mainz has found some consistency this season. Hoffenheim however remains highly inconsistent.
Tune in this weekend to find out what the best German sides can produce in their domestic league. By the measure of their performances in Europe, this weekend promises to be entertaining and highly dramatic!
