Bundesliga Matchday 19 Preview: Top, Bottom, and In Between

The top three are pulling away from the rest of the pack while the bottom four are being cut adrift. Ten points separate 4th-place RB Leipzig and 14th place Fortuna Dusseldorf. Will tthe rich continue to get richer in terms of points, the poor get poorer, and the in-between continue to get squeezed together? Welcome to Matchday 19.

HERTHA BERLIN vs. FC SCHALKE 04 (Friday at 1:30pm CT, FS2)

(Matchday 2:  Schalke 0-2 Hertha Berlin)

Hertha began 2019 with a 3-1 away win in Nürnberg and are one point behind Wolfsburg for sixth place and the second Europa League spot. Whenever Marko Grujic has appeared for the Capital Club, they have not lost. Too bad that has been eight appearances. In the ten games that Grujic had not appeared in, Hertha have amassed just seven points (20 with him).  

Weston McKennie is suspended for the Royal Blues due to yellow card accumulation, so Daniel Caliguri could be called upon to score the goals like he did last week against Wolfsburg. The other American in the side, Haji Wright, now has a permanent place on the first team and could feature as well. 

BORUSSIA DORTMUND vs. HANNOVER 96 (Saturday at 8:30am CT, FS1)

(Matchday 2:  Hannover 96 0-0 Borussia Dortmund)

Marco Reus is expected to be fit again missing last week’s match with Leipzig. Paco Alcacer might start alongside Mario Götze, who was a lone striker last week, though it may not matter since ten of his twelve goals have come as a substitute. Dortmund have score 29 of their league-leading 45 goals at the Signal Iduna. 

While Dortmund are unbeaten at home, Hannover are winless on the road and have won just once away since the start of last season. That said, they are one of four teams to have taken points from BVB earning a draw in Matchday 2. That was then. Now, Hannover are winless in their last seven and three points adrfit from the relegation playoff place. 

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH vs. FC AUGSBURG (Saturday at 8:30am, FS2)

(Matchday 2:  FC Augusburg 1-1 Borussia Mönchengladbach)

Also unbeaten at home are the Foals. In fact, they have won 11 straight at Borussia-Park which is their longest streak since 1983-84. Their 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen coupled with Leipzig’s loss puts the Foals five points clear in third and just three back of Bayern Munich. Alassane Plea got the goal last week and could be counted on to get the goals again along with Thorgan Hazard and Lars Stindl. 

Augsburg currently sit just one point clear of the danger zone after a home defeat to Fortuna last week which extended their winless streak to nine. Kostas Stafylidis and Feliz Götze were back in training following injury, while midfielder Rani Khedira is available again following suspension. FCA have lost just one in their last six against Gladbach, but winless in their last four (three draws and the loss). 

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

(Matchday 2:  Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 Wolfsburg)

Joshua Guliavogli could miss out again after missing out last week with a thigh injury. The Wolves lost at Schalke last week and now have Hertha, Hoffenheim, Werder Bremen, et al. on their tails. Wolfsburg, like Hertha with Marko Grujic, are unbeaten when Guilavogli is on the pitch. Unfortunately, that has been just six times this season. 

Peter Bosz lost his debut at home to Gladbach. Die Werkself is just four points out of sixth, but need players like Leon Bailey to score. Bailey has not scored since Matchday 2 against Wolfsburg. He will likely have the assistance of Karim Bellarabi and Kevin Volland.

FSV MAINZ 05 vs. FC NÜRNBERG (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

(Matchday 2:  FC Nürnberg 1-1 Mainz 05)

Will it be “Hakuna Mateta” again? He has scored in back-to-back games and the 05ers are ten points clear of the drop zone. It may come early as well. Five of Jean-Philippe Mateta’s six goals have come in the opening half hour. Mainz have lost just three of their last ten with those losses coming against three of the top four (BVB, Bayern, and Leipzig).   

FC Nürnberg are rock bottom after losing their fifth straight and are now winless in their last twelve. The odds are not in their favor as they have the second most anemic attack with just 15 goals and the most charitable defense allowing 41. Der Club have lost seven straight against Mainz in the top flight.   

SC FREIBURG vs. TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM (Saturday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

(Matchday 2:  Hoffenheim 3-1 SC Freiburg)

Freiburg will look to bounce back after a 3-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, last week. Freiburg has led in eight of their last ten encounters with Hoffenheim, but have won just once in that time. However, they are unbeaten in their last seven home games against Hoffenheim (three wins, four draws). 

Reiss Nelson is expected to return to the lineup after missing last week’s match against Bayern. They are winless in their last nine which is the longest under Julian Nagelsmann. Nelson has not scored in his last six matches and fellow striker Andrej Kramaric has not scored in his last three.  

SV WERDER BREMEN vs. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (Saturday at 11:30am, FS2)

(Matchday 2:  Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 Werder Bremen)

Josh Sargent made his fourth appearance with the first team coming on in the last ten minutes of last week’s win against Nürnberg. Nuri Sahin is expected to be fit despite missing training this week. Werder are the only team in the Bundesliga this season to not be shutout this season. Claudio Pizzaro would be the first player in Bundesliga history to score in 21 consecutive calendar years were he to score this Saturday. 

Eintracht’s win over Freiburg put them within just one point of fourth-place Leipzig for the final UEFA Champions League spot. They have the terrific trio of Ante Rebic, Sebastien Haller, and Luka Jovic who have combined for 29 of the Eagles’ 37 goals on the season. Jovic leads the Bundesliga on his own with 13 goals while Haller has ten assists with his eight goals. 

BAYERN MUNICH vs. VfB STUTTGART (Sunday at 8:30am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

(Matchday 2:  VfB Stuttgart 0-3 Bayern Munich)

Bayern picked up where they left off with a win over Hoffenheim—their sixth on the bounce. However, they are still six points off Dortmund at the top of the table. Leon Goretzka is coming of age after scoring twice last week while James Rodriguez—who is rumored to be leaving after this season—scored the third. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben returned to training this week, but both are unlikely to feature. 

Benjamin Pavard will join Bayern after this season. But for now, he is out with a thigh injury. Holger Badstuber, a former Bayern man, is a doubt with a muscular problem. Neither help Stuttgart’s sputtering defense which has already allowed more goals this season (38) than all of last season (36). 

FORTUNA DUSSELDORF vs. RB LEIPZIG (Sunday at 11am CT, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

(Matchday 2:  Fortuna Dusseldorf 1-1 RB Leipzig)

Fortuna were bottom of the table on Matchday 14. Four wins later, they are equidistant between the danger zone and sixth place. US International Alfredo Morales may keep his spot in the lineup after assisting on Benito Raman’s winner against Augsburg last week. Three of Raman’s four goals on the year have come as a substitute. 

Leipzig have lost their last three away matches and any chance they may have had in contending for the title has pretty much gone after last week’s loss to Dortmund. Worse, they are just a point clear of Frankfurt in fourth place. Tyler Adams could make his debut for RB Leipzig after coming from RB New York.