Bundesliga matchday 27 preview: Geister Spiele II

So far, so good for the Bundesliga as it resumed play in front of empty stadia across the country. At least, if you were the away side apart from Schalke it was a good weekend. Ten “Geister Spiele” have been played so far and just twice has the home team won. Recall that Borussia Mönchengladbach won at home before play was suspended on March 13th. 

This weekend presents the Berlin derby as Hertha hosts Union. How many away teams will win this weekend? Will it affect either or both ends of the table?

We now present an abbreviated preview of Matchday 27 (All times CT). 

HERTHA BERLIN vs. UNION BERLIN (Friday at 1:30pm, FS2)

For the first time since Matchday 2, Hertha are ahead of Union in the table thanks to the former’s 3-0 win at Hoffenheim and the latter’s 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich. It was an auspicious start for Bruno Labbadia, Hertha’s fifth coach this season. Union won the reverse fixture back on Matchday 10, but currently winless in their last three. Keven Schlotterback is suspended for the Iron Men. 

VfL WOLFSBURG vs. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (Saturday at 8:30am, FS1)

Daniel Ginczek was the hero as Wolfsburg came from behind to win 2-1 at Augsburg. The win vaulted them to sixth and in the second Europa League spot. The Wolves are now unbeaten in their last seven. BVB had no problem whatsoever with Schalke and that was without Marco Reus, Emre Can, and Axel Witsel. It was Erling Haaland with yet another goal and Raphael Guerreiro with a pair. The Black and Yellow have won eight of their last nine as the try to keep pace with Bayern. 

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH vs. BAYER LEVERKUSEN (Saturday at 8:30am, FS2)

The Foals opened with two goals in the first ten minutes from its French Connection of Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram and coasted to a 3-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The win, coupled with RB Leipzig’s draw against Freiburg, puts Gladbach to third place and keeping an outside shot at the title. Die Werkself got a brace from Kai Havertz and has ten goals from eight Ruckrunde matches. Bayer are still with out Kevin Volland (foot) and Lars Bender (foot).

FREIBURG vs. WERDER BREMEN  (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

Freiburg kept their European aspirations alive with a 1-1 draw at RB Leipzig and are just two points adrift of sixth-place Wolfsburg. They have already exceeded their point total from each of the last two seasons (36). The Green-Whites have just seven points since the 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture against the Black Forest side some 15 matches ago at the Weser Stadion. Josh Sargent played 20 minutes last weekend and hopes to start on Saturday. 

SC PADERBORN vs. HOFFENHEIM (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

Paderborn have not won since January and are ten points adrift of total safety in 15th and six points behind 16th place Fortuna Dusseldorf. They hope to find goal on Saturday after hitting woodwork multiple time in a 0-0 draw with Fortuna last weekend. Hoffenheim has injuries up front as Andrej Kramaric, Ihlas Bebou, and Sargis Adamyan are doubts and Munas Dabbur is a question mark. Hoffenheim is currently on a six-match winless streak including their eighth loss in 14 home matches last weekend against Hertha. 

BAYERN MUNICH vs. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (Saturday at 11:30am, FS1)

Robert Lewandowski returned to the lineup and resumed scoring in the 2-0 win at Union. He scored his 26th of the year. The seven-time defending champs are looking to exact revenge on Frankfurt who beat them 5-1 in the reverse fixture. In Hansi Flick’s 16 matches in charge of Bayern, they have scored 60 goals. They also have the most stingiest defense allowing just 26. 

Die Adler’s has lost four straight and have slipped to 13th. They also have the worst away record in the league with seven our of possible 36 points.

FC SCHALKE vs. FC AUGSBURG  (Sunday at 6:30am, FS1)

The Royal Blues will look to shake off a 4-0 defeat to Dortmund. They will have to make do without top scorer Amine Harit and Jean-Claie Todibo who both picked up knocks last weekend. They are currently on an eight-match winless streak which is the current long. Augsburg are on a six-match winless run themselves. They are just four points clear of the danger zone. They also have the second-worst away record with nine points out of a possible 39. 

MAINZ vs. RB LEIPZIG (Sunday at 8:30am, FS1)

Jean-Philippe Mateta is back from suspension for the 05ers who had to come back from 2-0 behind to draw FC Köln. They are still just four points clear of the danger zone, but are unbeaten in their last three. RB Leipzig will look to get back on track after being held be Freiburg. They are one point back of Gladbach in third, but one point ahead of Leverkusen in fifth. Timo Werner is hoping to end an eight-match goalless drought.

FC KÖLN vs. FORTUNA DUSSELDORF (Sunday at 11am, FS1)

The Billy Goats are in 10th and ten points clear of the drop zone under Markus Gisdol. However, they just have a loss and a draw in their last two matches. They are looking to move closer towards the top six with a win over their Rheinland rivals. Fortuna are still 16th after hitting the woodwork four times in their goalless draw with Paderborn. It did extend their unbeaten run to four matches.