Arminia Bielefeld v Bayern Munich

All logic would suggest that Bayern Munich’s departure from the Champions League in midweek would lead to nothing but bad news for Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday as they return to Bundesliga action, but things haven’t been going according to plan for the German giants for some time.

Rather than patting themselves on the back for a comfortable lead at the top of the table, the knives are out at the club’s Sabener Strasse training ground as speculation surrounds a number of key players. None more so than Robert Lewandowski.

Although the Poland international got a goal against Villarreal and scored from the penalty spot last weekend he, along with Thomas Muller, has looked completely off the boil lately and as a result, Bayern’s attacking output has taken a nose-dive.

Bielefeld would still be extremely fortunate to take a point from this game, but with their backs to the wall and a misfiring Bayern attacking line don’t expect a huge amount of goals from this one.

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Union Berlin v Frankfurt

Eintracht Frankfurt stunned the world on Thursday night when they not only matched Barcelona at the Camp Nou but essentially played the Spanish giants off the pitch to reach the Europa League semi-finals.

However, as fantastic as Oliver Glasner’s side have been in Europe this season – where they are now unbeaten in 10 games – they’ve looked entirely devoid of consistency of purpose in the Bundesliga, where they’ve only managed to win three of their last 12 league games.

In contrast, Union have been able to focus on the Bundesliga for some time bow and buoyed by last weekend’s 4-1 win in the Berlin derby, Urs Fischer’s side find themselves level on points with seventh-placed Hoffenheim and on the cusp of European qualification for next season.

Couple that with Frankfurt’s exhaustive performance in Spain and Union’s impressive home form in the Bundesliga this season – which is the fifth in the top-flight – and this looks like a match that should provide all three points for the Berlin club.  

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Hoffenheim v Furth

There’s a running theme in the German top flight which suggests that teams tend to see their form take a nosedive after impressive performances against Bayern and that certainly seems to have happened to this Hoffenheim team.

Ever since they wrestled a point off Julian Nagelsmann’s side in mid March, Sebastian Hoeneß’s side have lost three games in a row and are now facing the serious risk of dropping out of the European spots.

Fortunately, Greuther Furth come to town on Sunday as comfortably the worst team in the division and a side that concede on average 3.2 goals per away game. In other words, the perfect palate cleanser for the Sinsheim side.

When coupled with Hoffenheim’s impressive goal scoring record at home this season, which averages out at 2.07 goals per game, we can probably predict a comfortable home win and goals to boot.

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Leverkusen v RB Leipzig

In strong contrast to Dortmund’s injury problems and the internal strife at Bayern, RB Leipzig continue to rumble on as, comfortably, the most impressive side in German football since the turn of the year.

Not only have they now progressed to the semi-finals of the Europa League after disposing of an impressive Atalanta side but Domenico Tedesco’s team are also unbeaten in the league since early February. And they’ll be gunning for all three points on Sunday.

In contrast, Bayer Leverkusen remain completely limited in their ambitions due to an injury crisis that has now claimed five first team starters and possibly a sixth if reports in Germany this week are true about Jonathan Tah struggling to overcome an illness ahead of the match.

Leverkusen should still put up a decent fight at the BayArena, but there is really no side in Germany that can match Tedesco’s high-flying side at the moment.

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