Bundesliga Matchday 7 Preview: Der Klassiker Weekend

We have our first Der Klassiker (after the German Supercup) which doubles as a first v second matchup.

We also have a battle at the bottom of the table as both Mainz and Schalke look for their first wins of the season. This is on the heels of a perfect midweek in Europe for Bundesliga clubs heading into Matchday Seven. 

(All times US Central time on ESPN+ unless stated)

WERDEN BREMEN vs. FC KOLN (Friday at 1:30pm)

Josh Sargent finally got on the board in the Green-White’s third successive 1-1 draw of the year. Just one loss from the first six matches of the season is a welcome departure from last season. A now-fit Milot Rashica could join Sargent in the attack in place of Manchester United loanee Tahith Chong.

The Billy Goats are the third of the three teams who are winless so far this season and hope to get one before the second international break. Their 6-1 defeat to Bremen on Matchday 34 last season is still fresh in their minds as is the fact that they are on a 16-match winless streak after their 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich. 

RB LEIPZIG vs. SC FREIBURG (Saturday at 8:30am)

Leipzig lost top spot in the league after their loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach last Saturday, but are buoyed by their defeat of PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday. Dayot Upamecano has started all ten competitive matches for Leipzig, but this will not be #11 due to a thigh injury. Yussuf Poulsen is expected back in the starting XI after impressing off the bench on Wednesday. 

Freiburg have been winless in their last five after an opening day win. They have also dropped a league-high nine points from winning positions so far. Nils Petersen could be back in the starting XI ahead of Lukas Kubler. Petersen leads Freiburg with three goals including one last week which was his 26th strike as a substitute. 

UNION BERLIN vs. ARMINIA BIELEFELD (Saturday at 8:30am)

Union are on a record five-match unbeaten streak after their win over 10-man Hoffenheim last week. Andreas Luthe is looking to remain between the sticks with Loris Karius on standby. Captain Christopher Trimmel and defender Robin Knoche are available again after missing out last week. 

Bielefeld are currently on a four-match losing streak after Dortmund defeated them at home last weekend. They could fall into the relegation zone if results go against them on Saturday, which they are just two points clear of right now. They might be looking to Cebio Soukou and Sergio Cordova to jump-start the second-most anemic offense with just four goals so far. 

MAINZ 05 vs. SCHALKE 04 (Saturday at 8:30am)

Here is the battle at the bottom of the table. The 05ers are in last place with zero points so far. They currently have the second-worst defense (18 shipped) and the joint-third worst attack (five scored). Another loss would be a record to start the season. Last week’s loss matched them with Fortuna Dusseldorf from 1991-92 for six matches winless to start. 

Schalke are in 17th and have the worst attack (just three scored) and the worst defense (20 shipped—though eight were against Bayern). Oh, they have not won since January 17th—22 matches ago. They have drawn two of their last four and were easy winners in their DFB Pokal tie against Schweinfurt, 4-1. Hopefully for the Royal Blues, things might be looking up for them. 

FC AUGSBURG vs. HERTHA BERLIN (Saturday at 8:30am):

Augsburg got back to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Mainz last time out thanks to a brace from Andre Hahn and a overhead kick from Ruben Vargas. They continue to surprise in sixth place in the table and are the only team to score against Dortmund in the league so far. Florian Niederlechner is a doubt with an abdominal strain, but they are not lacking in attacking depth with Hahn, Michael Gregoritsch and Alfred Finnbogason.

Hertha can only hope to return to winning ways. They got back to getting points after a draw against Wolfsburg ended a four-match losing streak. Matteo Guendouzi impressed off the bench for Hertha Berlin against Wolfsburg and just might get his first start of the season. They have scored ten goals so far this season and boast an attacking trio of their own in Matheus Cunha, Jhon Cordoba, and Dodi Lukebakio. 

VfB STUTTGART vs. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (Saturday at 8:30am)

Die Schwaben are unbeaten since their opening loss. Two wins and three draws have led them to joint-seventh with Union Berlin. Their eleven goals are the fourth-most with only the top three ahead of them. Nicolas Gonzalez, who lead Stuttgart with the goals last season, could start in place of Sasa Kalajdzic who has not scored in his last three. 

Meanwhile, Die Adler are winless in their last three after a 1-1 draw with Bremen. The attacking trio of Andre Silva, Bas Dost and Daichi Kamada will be key to getting Frankfurt back to winning ways. They will also be boosted by the return of Filip Kostic who is back to full training after a six-week absence. Defensively they have not had a clean sheet in their last eleven games. 

BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs. BAYERN MUNICH (Saturday at 11:30am)

Erling Haaland got a brace against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday. It was also their seventh clean sheet in nine competitive matches with only Augsburg and Lazio finding the goal against BVB so far this year. Mats Hummels, who has scored BVB’s last three league goals, should return to the fold after missing the Brugge match with a thigh issue. 

Bayern had a scare against FC Salzburg on Tuesday, before getting four unanswered goals late and winning 6-2 to extend their winning streak in the Champions League to 14. Bayern are at the top of the goal scorers charts so far in the Bundesliga with 24—11 more than the next in line in BVB. Robert Lewandowski on his own has scored ten in league play which is more than ten teams have in total. 

VfL WOLFSBURG vs. HOFFENHEIM (Sunday at 8:30am)

The good news for Wolfsburg is that they have allowed just four goals so far and are one of two teams unbeaten in the Bundesliga. However, they have just scored five this season and have managed five draws from the opening six matches. They are in 11th in the table as a result. John Brooks has been the only defender to start all six matches for the Wolves so far. 

Hoffenheim are hoping to transfer their Europa League form into league play after an emphatic 5-0 win over Slovan Liberec from the Czech Republic. Currently in league play, they are winless in their last four after a 3-1 loss to Union last week. Andrej Kramaric, Pavel Kaderabek, and Kasim Adams are available again after being in isolation post-international break, but Sebastian Hoeness is unlikely to rush them back into the fold.  

BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs. BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH (Sunday at 11am) 

Lucas Alario is on a hot streak of his own with five goals in his last three league matches. They will be coming from a trip to Israel after knocking off Hapoel Beer-Sheva in the Europa League. Die Werkself are the only other unbeaten team in the Bundesliga and the lineup will more closely resemble the one that beat Freiburg more than the one that beat Hapoel. 

It’s been a good past few days for the Foals. On Saturday, they became the first team to beat RB Leipzig and then travelled to Ukraine and put six past Shakhtar Donetsk to top Group B after draws with Inter Milan and Real Madrid. They will likely be battling Die Werkself for a top four spot assuming the other three will be Bayern, BVB, and Leipzig. Gladbach are another team unbeaten since their opening loss with Dortmund. 

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