Bundesliga Matchday 8 Preview

The international break did not provide a respite for those who follow the German National Team after losses to Netherlands and France. Let’s see if it does rejuvenate Bayern. Welcome to Matchday 8.

EINTRACHT FRANKFURT vs. FORTUNA DUSSELDORF (Friday at 1:30pm CT, FS2)

Ante Rebic will be absent following a red card in the previous match against Hoffenheim. Luka Jovic is expected to start alongside Sebastian Haller up front. The Eagles have climbed to seventh in the table after back-to-back wins and are looking for more. Eintracht has scored in each of their first seven league matches, but have kept just one clean sheet.

Fortuna have lost three straight and find themselves second from bottom on five points. They are also the joint-second from bottom in scoring with just five goals. Oliver Fink is still out with an achilles injury. Fortuna’s last win in Frankfurt was in 1979.

VfL WOLFSBURG vs. BAYERN MUNICH (Saturday at 8:30am CT, FS1)

Last time Wolfsburg faced Bayern, they got a 2-2 draw at the Allianz. At Volkswagen Arena, they have lost four on the bounce against the Bavarians. That includes the time Robert Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes in 2015. Wolfsburg have failed to find the net in two of their last three matches. They are also winless in their last five after winning their opening two. 

Lewandowski has not scored in his last four matches for Bayern. Will he find his goalscoring touch once again at the VW Arena? James Rodriguez played superb for Colombia in the international break, but can he translate that form to Bayern? Jerome Boateng is a doubt after picking up a calf injury against the Netherlands. It would be a club record if Bayern fail to find the net in this one for the third successive time. 

VfB STUTTGART vs. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

A battle of bottom vs. top as Tayfun Korkut became the first coaching casualty of this season. Markus Weinzierl takes over at the Mercedes-Benz Arena, but will have to make do without the likes of Daniel Didavi, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Anastasios Donis and Dennis Aogo. But Mario Gomez is available after suffering a cut to his head against Hannover, while right-back Andreas Beck is fit again following injury.

Paco Alcacer has scored a record six goals in 81 minutes of play for BVB. That’s part of a league-leading 23 goals so far with nine coming from substitutes. Lucien Favre has a mostly-full compliment of players to choose from including Christian Pulisic who is recovering from a calf injury. Manual Akanji is out though with a hip injury while playing for Switzerland. 

BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs. HANNOVER 96 (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Plus)

Head coach Heiko Herrlich has some personnel a rash of injuries in central midfield, with Charles Aranguiz, Julian Baumgartlinger and Lars Bender all out. Kai Havertz could play after a knee injury forced him out of Germany’s UEFA National League matches. Julian Brandt is still hoping for his first league goal of the season. 

Hannover ended a seven-match winless streak against Stuttgart, but remain in 16th. Bobby Wood scored twice against VfB two weeks ago and looks set to retain his place in the lineup. Niclas Fullkrug is expected to start alongside Wood as he is the joint-leading scorer with the USA international. Hannover are winless in their last nine at the BayArena.  

FC AUGSBURG vs. RB LEIPZIG (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

Alfred Finnbogason has made up for lost time netting four times in 172 minutes of play this season after being injured at the start of the season. However, the last time out was a 4-3 defeat to Dortmund. Augsburg have conceded a league-high seven goals from opposition substitutes. 

Timo Werner is also making up for lost time as he is on four goals. Two of them came against Nürnberg in a 6-0 thrashing. Die Rotten Bullen are up to second in the table after going unbeaten in their last six matches. Leipzig are second on the scoring charts with 16 with Yussuf Poulsen leading the way with five. 

FC NÜRNBERG vs. TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

If there is any comfort for Der Club after being on the wrong end of a 6-0 smackdown, it’s that they have seven points from a possible nine at the Max-Morlock Arena. That said, Mikael Ishak is a doubt after returning from international duty with a knock while Tim Leibold is suspended after a red card. 

English youngster Reiss Nelson has just three shots on goal so far this season, but two of them have gone in. Meanwhile, Adam Szalai has not found the net since Matchday 2. Hoffenheim are coming off back-to-back losses and find themselves in 13th place. A rash of injuries have not helped with Nadiem Amiri, Benjamin Hübner, Dennis Geiger, and Lukas Rupp still out.

SCHALKE 04 vs. WERDEN BREMEN (Saturday at 11:30am, FS2)

Weston McKennie should be fit again after an adductor issue kept him out of the USA’s friendlies against Colombia and Peru. McKennie scored in the win against Fortuna in Matchday 7. Schalke are looking to climb back up the table after a horrid start to season that saw them lose their first four matches.  

Werden Bremen are off to their best start in seven years after winning three of their last four. Josh Sargent earned a cap for the USA and is still looking for his Bundesliga debut. Milos Veljkovic is available once more following suspension. Nine different players have scored for Bremen so far this season compared to just two last season at this point.  

HERTHA BERLIN vs. SC FREIBURG (Sunday at 8:30am CT, FS2)

Confidence is high at the Capital Club with wins at home over FC Nürnberg, Gladbach, and Bayern. The last time Hertha was ahead of Bayern in the table was ten years ago. Ondrej Duda is the leading scoring for Germany’s Old Lady with five goals. Vedad Ibisevic has six goals in his last five home matches dating back to last season.

SC Freiburg have a glut of injuries to deal with. Striker Nils Petersen is a major doubt with the shoulder injury that kept him out of the draw with Bayer Leverkusen, while fellow forward Florian Niederlechner faces a month on the sidelines with ankle trouble. They join captain Mike Frantz (calf), Caleb Stanko (knee), Tim Kleindienst (ankle) and Pascal Stenzel (shoulder) in the treatment room. Frieburg has lost just once in their last five and has lost just once in their last ten against Hertha. 

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH vs. MAINZ 05 (Sunday at 11am CT, FS2)

Gladbach were impressing in their 3-0 win at Bayern Munich. They have also been impressive at Borussia Park this season going three-for-three. And to keep with the “Rule of Three”, they are third in the table. Alessane Plea is on five goals for the Foals while Lars Stindl and Thorgan Hazard complete the triumvirate. 

The good news for the 05ers is that they have conceded a league-low four goals. The bad news is that they have scored a league-low four goals. Three players have scored more this season (Alcacer, Duda, Plea). Five others have scored as many as Mainz. Their away-goal total remains at zero. Anthony Ujah has accounted for half the scoring for Mainz who fielded their youngest team ever as a top flight team on Matchday 7 at 22.78 years.