Bochum v Borussia Monchengladbach

This weekend’s Bundesliga action kicks off with what should be a tightly-contested clash between Bochum and Borussia Monchengladbach at the Vonovia-Ruhrstadion.

Thomas Reis’s recently-promoted side have all but fought off the threat of relegation with some superb form at home, where they’ve picked up no less than 75 percent of their points this season and some notable scalps along the way. And there’s no doubt that they’ll be hoping to add a troubled Gladbach team to a list that already includes Mainz, Hoffenheim, Freiburg, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich.

Indeed, despite last weekend’s 2-0 win over Hertha Berlin, Gladbach remain a team in disarray. Head coach Adi Hutter will be forced to watch this game from home after catching COVID and reports from Germany suggest that the head coach was forced to fine striker Alassane Plea twice for showing up late to a team meeting on Sunday. Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, midfielder Christopher Kramer fell out with his manager over some critical video analysis in training.

For a side that have managed just two wins on the road this season from 13 attempts, Friday night’s tricky task of getting the best of a disciplined and well-oiled Bochum machine certainly seems too much for the troubled Foals at this moment in time.

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Greuther Furth v Freiburg

On Saturday Freiburg travel to Greuther Furth in good spirits and well aware of the fact that they’ll need all three points against their lowly opponents as they continue their quest for a top four finish this season.

Christian Streich’s side have bounced back from a patchy run of form in December and January by putting together a run of five games without defeat, which has largely been fueled by the attacking talents of Vincenzo Grifo and Ermedin Demirovic, who have either scored or assisted five goals between them in that short period of time.

Despite having a reputation for being a defensive and rather safety first side, Streich’s team have bagged no less than nine goals in their last five games and will be confident of adding to that tally when they take on a Furth side that have conceded 70 goals in 26 league games this season.

Furth, to their credit, have shown a bit of bite in recent weeks and haven’t failed to score a goal in the Bundesliga since January 8, so we certainly shouldn’t be surprised if Stefan Leitl’s side bag a consolation goal or perhaps even more – especially through club captain Branimir Hrgota, who now has four goals in his last six games for the club.

Hertha Berlin v Hoffenheim

If there is one in-form side that could rival Freiburg for that fourth place finish it is undoubtedly Sebastian Hoeneß’s Hoffenheim side, who look capable of beating anyone at the moment and should make short work of Hertha Berlin on Saturday.

Last weekend the Sinsheim side went toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich and could have ended up winning the match, before settling for a 1-1 draw. Whether it be the remarkable service from David Raum at left-back or the ingenuity of Andrej Kramaric’s goals and assists up front – buoyed by a new contract extension that was announced on Saturday – Hoffenheim have one of the most potent attacks in the Bundesliga this season.

Hertha, on the other hand, are certainly not. Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Gladbach was the club’s fifth straight defeat in the Bundesliga and led to the club sacking interim manager Tayfun Korkut. A welcome decision, perhaps, if not for the fact that the capital side then replaced him with the notorious Felix Magath, who hasn’t managed a team in the German top flight since 2012.  

The senior tactician and disciplinarian may eventually get this dishevelled squad into order but the question is whether he can do it before they’ve been relegated from the Bundesliga. Either way, the task of matching Hoffenheim a few days after arriving at the club will likely prove far too much for Magath and this squad. 

Mainz v Arminia Bielefeld

Mainz will undoubtedly be ready to vent some pent up frustration on Saturday, when they welcome Arminia Bielefeld to the Mewa Arena just a few days after a narrow defeat to Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

Head coach Bo Svensson summed up his club’s feelings after the match when he said he was “proud and angry” at the performance, but lacked the points to show for it. However, at home in front of the recently promoted Bielefeld, Mainz should be able to welcome back influential central defender Alexander Hack and defensive midfield leader Dominik Kohr and continue a run of good form that has seen the side pick up five wins from their last six home games in the Bundesliga.

That’s not to say that Arminia will be complete pushovers. In Patrick Wimmer the club have an exciting young winger who can challenge any defence and links up wonderfully with Masaya Okugawa on a regular basis. And, like mainz, Frank Kramer’s side also narrowly lost to Dortmund by one goal on Sunday.

However, that hard-fought defeat was Bielefeld’s third in a row on the road and fourth from their last five games, as the good form from late December and throughout January seems to have evaporated into thin air. It will be hard to see the visitors putting up too much of a fight on Saturday.

Stuttgart v Augsburg

The relegation battle at the bottom of the Bundesliga has been so tight this season that it now seems as though the return of a single player may be able to turn it in Stuttgart’s favour. They have their star striker, Sasa Kalajdzic, back and fully fit and he’s already making a huge difference.

The towering target man has picked up two goals and two assists in his last three league games for Pellegrino Matarazzo’s side, which allowed a once struggling team to put in-form Hoffenheim under immense pressure in a narrow 2-1 defeat, then directly helped his side beat Gladbach 3-2 and then pick up a point away to Union Berlin.

Indeed, the Swabian club are quite literally a different side with their talisman up front and should go into Saturday’s clash with Augsburg with a sense of renewed purpose and an attacking threat that has been sorely missing this season.

However, Augsburg have also enjoyed something of a turn-around in fortunes since mid December and Markus Weinzierl’s side have only lost four of their last 11 league games. And have only failed to score in one of them.

This should be an enthralling six-pointer at the bottom of the league table and, fortunately for neutrals and fans alike, a game in which we will see plenty of goals.

Bayern Munich v Union Berlin

Things aren’t exactly going to plan for Bayern Munich at the moment. Rumours about Robert Lewandowski’s future dominate the back pages in Germany, Niklas Sule has just been ruled out for a month due to injury and Julian Nagelsmann went as far as to blame the “dry grass” for last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim.

Indeed, over the past five matchdays, Bayern have dropped five more points than Dortmund and RB Leipzig, with a stunning 4-2 defeat to Bochum followed by draws against Bayer Leverkusen and now Hoffenheim. However, fortunately for the Bavarian giants, they’ll be facing an ideal opponent in Union Berlin on Saturday as they look to right a number of wrongs in their league leading squad.

As bad as Bayern have been, Union have undoubtedly been worse as the capital side are still reeling from the departure of central defender Marvin Friedrich and star striker Max Kruse to Gladbach and Wolfsburg respectively.

Since the January window slammed shut, Urs Fischer’s side have conceded nine goals and scored just four for themselves in six games, with just four points to show for it. This team are in free fall and Bayern will be looking to exorcise a number of demons against them at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

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