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Five teams maintained their 100% record, Lewandowski got another hat trick for Bayern (and is now signed with them until 2023), and Germany will once again have three teams in the Europa League group stage as Eintract Frankfurt passed their test against Strasbourg. This week promises some interesting matchups. Welcome to Matchday 3 (All times CT).
BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH vs. RB LEIPZIG (Friday at 1:30pm, FS2):
The Foals came from behind to defeat Mainz, 3-1, last week. Breel Embolo came off the bench to get a goal and an assist and could start on Friday. Jonas Hoffman and Lars Stindl are still out, but Christoph Kramer is available again. They will hope to end their current winless streak at home dating back to last season which stands at nine at present.
Leipzig have won all three of their matches at Borussia Park and are unbeaten against them overall (four wins, two draws). Timo Werner, who recently re-signed with Leipzig, scored the match winner last week against Eintracht Frankfurt. He is expected to partner with Yussuf Poulsen yet again despite leaving the match early in the second half. Tyler Adams remains a doubt with a groin strain.
BAYERN MUNICH vs. MAINZ (Saturday at 8:30am, FS1)
Bayern recently extended Robert Lewandowski’s stay at the Allianz thru 2023. Lewandowski has scored all five of Bayern’s goals so far. Philippe Couthinho looks set to start in this match as does Thiago. That would likely mean that Thomas Muller and Benjamin Pavard would make way. Lucas Hernandez is likely to maintain his central defense partnership with Niklas Sule.
Matchday 1 saw Mainz gave up three goals in the last ten minutes. Matchday 2 saw Mainz concede two in 60 seconds against Gladbach. Matchday 3 sees them face Lewandowski and Coutinho. At least Adam Szalai could debut for the 05ers.
SCHALKE vs. HERTHA BERLIN (Saturday at 8:30am, FS2)
Weston McKennie was one of the few positives for the Royal Blues last week against Bayern. David Wagner’s side is still looking for their first goal, let alone first win of the season. Winger Amine Harit rested a bruised foot on Tuesday, the same day that Jonas Carls, Suat Serdar and Steven Skrzybski all returned to training. Like Gladbach, Schalke is winless in their last nine at home.
Last week, Hertha were plunged down to Earth by Wolfsburg at home. They did win at the Veltins Arena last season on a brace from Ondrej Duda. Former Ajax and Chelsea youth player Daishawn Redan made his Bundesliga debut on Matchday 2, and could feature in Gelsenkirchen.
BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs. HOFFENHEIM (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Plus)
Die Werkself went out comfortable 3-1 winners at Fortuna Dusseldorf last weekend. Kerem Demirbay may start against his former club while Nadiem Amiri might start on the bench against his former club.
Hoffenheim had a pair of 4-1 wins over Leverkusen last season. Last week, they defeated Werder Bremen, 3-2. Denis Geiger looks set to be the chief playmaker while Ihlas Bebou opened his account in the win against Bremen.
WOLFSBURG vs. SC PADERBORN (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Matchpass)
Wout Weghorst will look to continue his scoring ways while Wolfsburg look to continue their winning ways. The Wolves are one of five clubs to open with two wins in league play. They have never opened with three straight wins.
Meanwhile, Paderborn have allowed three goals in back-to-back matches in their return to the top flight. They are one of four teams on zero points at the moment. Streli Mamba, scorer of two of Paderborn’s three goals so far, will almost certainly partner Sven Michel in attack.
SC FREIBURG vs. FC KÖLN (Saturday at 8:30am, Fox Soccer Matchpass)
Frieburg in another of the teams with two wins and have scored three goals in back-to-back games. Nils Petersen is fit again while Luca Waldschmidt will look to celebrate his recent call-up to the German national team with another goal.
It was Freiburg who sealed the Billy Goats’ relegation in 2017-18. They are another one of the four teams on zero points so far after two matches. They were a goal up on Borussia Dortmund at home until 20 minutes to go and ultimately lost, 3-1.
FC UNION BERLIN vs. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (Saturday at 11:30am, FS1)
The total capacity of Stadion An der Alten Försterei is 22,012 which is less than what the Yellow Wall at the Signal Iduna can hold. After getting their first ever top flight point against Augsburg last week, they now welcome BVB to the Forest. They will be without Keven Schlotterbeck who was sent off last week.
BVB’s Jadon Sancho became the youngest to reach 15 Bundesliga goals last week. Sancho will be a handful for the Iron Men. Meanwhile, Julian Brandt may start in place of Thorgan Hazard who suffered a knock last weekend. BVB already have eight goals from their first two games of the season which is tops in the Bundesliga.
WERDER BREMEN vs. AUGSBURG (Sunday at 8:30am, FS1)
We might see Josh Sargent start for the winless and pointless Green-Whites with Milot Rashica injured and Johannes Eggestein suspended. The ageless Claudio Pizarro is also a doubt. Sargent has played just eight minutes so far this season for Bremen.
Augsburg bounced back from a 5-1 opening day defeat to BVB with a 1-1 draw with Paderborn. Alfred Finnbogason is back in contention after getting a late run-out on Matchday 2 following injury. Die Fuggerstädter are winless in their last seven competitive matches dating back to last season.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT vs. FORTUNA DUSSELDORF (Sunday at 11am, FS1)
Last season, Luka Jovic scored five goals in Frankfurt’s 7-1 win over Fortuna at the Commerzbank-Arena. Jovic is now at Real Madrid. There will be more Sunday matches for Frankfurt this season with their qualification in the Europa League group stage after defeating Strasbourg on Thursday. New signing Bas Dost could feature straight away.
Fortuna opened with a 3-1 win over Bremen, but followed that with a 3-1 loss to Leverkusen. Marcel Sobottka and Kasim Adams’s hopes of returning to the fold were dealt a blow this week, with both players forced off injured during a midweek friendly against fifth-division opposition. Schalke loanee winger Bernard Tekpetey and Poland international striker Dawid Kownacki are in contention to start.
