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Winless in their last three? Yep, Bayern are in crisis. Are we going to have a title chase this year? Of course, this was around the time last year Jupp Heynckes returned to Bayern and they ended up winning by 22 points. It’s too early to say whether Bayern will still cruise to victory or if they will be made to fight for consecutive title #7. Welcome to Matchday 7.
WERDER BREMEN vs. VfL WOLFSBURG (Friday at 1:30pm CT, FS2)
A case of the old and the new for Die Grün-Weißen. Claudio Pizzaro turned 40 on Wednesday and could make his 451st Bundesliga appearace. He will become just the fourth field player to play in the Bundesliga in his forties. Meanwhile, 18-year old Josh Sargent has been called to the US National Team for a pair of friendlies and could feature himself in this match. Sargent has scored six goals in 10 matches for Werder’s U-23 squad.
After opening with two straight wins, Wolfsburg are winless in their last four (three draws and a loss). Despite that, they are still seventh in the table and have amassed five points from trailing positions this season. Admir Mehmedi could return to the lineup after missing the 2-2 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach with a toe injury.
BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs. FC AUGSBURG (Saturday at 8:30am CT, FS2)
BVB are top of the Bundesliga and also top of Group A of the UEFA Champions League after a 3-0 win over AS Monaco. Dortmund has scored 14 goals in their last three competitive matches. Christian Pulisic has already been ruled out with a calf injury while Jacob Bruun Larsen could well feature again after scoring in the last three matches. Speaking of strike rates, Paco Alcacer has scored once every 17 minutes he’s been on the pitch.
Alfred Finnbogason returned to Augsburg’s lineup last week and all he did was get his first hat trick since March 2017 in their 4-1 win over Freiburg. This was after their 1-1 draw against Bayern and has vaulted them to 8th in the table. However, Augsburg has only won at the Signal Iduna Park just once (2015).
FORTUNA DUSSELDORF vs. FC SCHALKE 04 (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Plus)
Fortuna will hope that they will get the Schalke from before Matchday 6 in this one. However, they need to score goals. They have had 46 shots on target in the last three matches and have scored just one—from the penalty spot. Captain Oliver Fink will miss this one due to an achilles tendon.
Schalke finally got on the board in league play with a win over Mainz. They still have more points in their Champions League group (four) as they defeated Lokomotiv Moscow on Wednesday thanks to a goal by Weston McKennie. The Royal Blues will look to complete a hat trick of wins and get out of the bottom three before the second international break.
FSV MAINZ 05 vs. HERTHA BERLIN (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)
Goals are at a premium for Mainz. They have just four so far on the season and lost to the only team that has scored fewer on the season in Schalke, last week. The 05ers risk setting a club record by going goalless in their last four matches. The good news for Mainz is that they also have the stingiest defense by conceding just four goals.
After five matches of conceding a penalty, Hertha were given one against Bayern Munich and wound up winning 2-0 ending a 14-match winless streak against the Bavarians. Hertha are also now in third in the table. The capital club is likely to remain with the duo of Ondrej Duda and Vedad Ibisevic who have combined for nine goals this season.
HANNOVER 96 vs. VfB STUTTGART (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)
Hannover are the only team in the Bundesliga without a win this season and are bottom of the table. Niclas Füllkrug is unlikely to feature with an ankle injury, though Bobby Wood could start. Hannover were relegated with Stuttgart in 2016 and made an instant return with Stuttgart in 2017.
Hannover’s former coach Steve Cherundolo is now an assistant at Stuttgart. VfB won last week, but both Anastasios Donis and Dennis Aogo suffered thigh injuries in the win—their first of the season. Ron-Robert Zieler leads the league with 25 saves, though more are talking about his howler last week against Bremen.
BAYERN MUNICH vs. BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH (Saturday at 11:30am, FS2)
Saturday will be one year to the day when Bayern appointed Jupp Heynckes to take over from Carlo Anclotti to rescue their season. Bayern ended up winning the Bundesliga by 22 points. Probably, Bayern won’t take similar action on Niko Kovac after a three-match winless streak including defeat to Hertha last week and a draw at home to Ajax on Tuesday. Bayern has not gone three straight winless in the Bundesliga since May 2015—though that was dead rubber.
Gladbach are off to their best start in four years and are fourth in the table. They have been a bogey side for Bayern in recent times winning five of their last 14 against the defending champions. However, while the Foals have a 100% record at Borussia Park, they just have two points away.
SC FREIBURG vs. BAYER LEVERKUSEN (Sunday at 6:30am CT, FS1)
After seven points from nine in the previous three matches, Freiburg came crashing down to Earth after a 4-1 loss to Augsburg. They will need the points here with three of the top four teams coming up after the international break. They also need to shore up their defense as they are one of three teams who have conceded a league-high 13 goals.
Leverkusen are hoping their Europa League form can carryover into the Bundesliga. Die Werkself defeated AEK Larnaca on Thursday, 4-2. That was the same scoreline they lost by against Dortmund last week. Leverkusen are one of the other two teams who have conceded 13 goals on the year (the third being Hannover). Leverkusen have already exceeded their loss total in the entire Hinrunde (first half) from last season.
TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM vs. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (Sunday at 8:30am CT, FS1)
Hoffenheim have been hit with the injury bug with five central defenders out injured. However, were unlucky to lose late to Manchester City on Tuesday. On the plus side, Leonardo Bittencourt, Andrej Kramaric, and Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson are pushing for recalls. TSG are unbeaten in their last six against Eintracht.
Frankfurt are coming off a 4-1 thrashing of nine-man Lazio in the Europa League. That was the same score they beat Hannover with, last week, as Ante Rebic returned to action with a goal and an assist. Marco Fabian is a doubt with a niggling knee injury. Sebastian Haller is one of two players who has a goal or assist in every game this season. The other being Marco Reus of Dortmund.
RB LEIPZIG vs. FC NÜRNBERG (Sunday at 11am CT, Fox Soccer Plus)
Squad rotation was in evidence as Leipzig got a 3-1 win on Thursday over Rosenborg. Yussuf Poulsen and Timo Werner are set to return to the lineup on Sunday—the latter looking for his 50th Bundesliga goal. Kevin Kampl could also make his 100th Bundesliga appearance.
Nürnberg bounced back from the 7-0 loss to Dortmund with a 3-0 win over Fortuna and bounced into 10th in the table. Six of their seven goals this season have come in the second half. This is the first meeting between Die Rotten Buller and Der Club in the Bundesliga, making it the 908th different fixture in the German top flight.
