Bundesliga Matchday 12 Promises Drama From Title Race to Relegation Scrap
Winter has very much arrived in Germany, but Bundesliga Matchday 12 nevertheless promises plenty of heat, weaving together title tensions, mid-table fights and underdog grit.
Borussia Mönchengladbach have plenty of the latter, having been bottom of the standings at the start of the month before going on a three-game winning run to fly into mid-table ahead of opening the weekend’s action at home to RB Leipzig on Friday.
The visitors, however, will be eager to cement second place, although they suffered a blow this week with freshly minted Germany international Assan Ouédraogo ruled out.
Whether or not they can catch leaders FC Bayern München remains to be seen, as Vincent Kompany’s unbeaten side show no signs of letting up this term.
Harry Kane described teammate Michael Olise as ‘unplayable’ following his five direct goal contributions in the 6-2 thrashing of SC Freiburg last weekend, and with struggling FC St. Pauli – currently on an eight-game losing run – visiting Munich on Saturday, more goals are to be expected.
The same can be said of the weekend’s headline encounter between third-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund in fourth, with top-flight fixtures between the two averaging well over three goals per game.
This season’s new-look Leverkusen continue to impress under Kasper Hjulmand, including a midweek UEFA Champions League win at Manchester City, but BVB are bolstered by the return of captain Emre Can from injury and will be eager to make amends for dropping points in stoppage time once again last week.
Saturday’s remaining matches are largely between teams jostling in the middle of the pack, as SV Werder Bremen host FC Köln, and TSG Hoffenheim take on FC Augsburg, while FC Union Berlin will hope to compound the woes of bottom club FC Heidenheim 1846.
There are contrasting aims in Sunday’s games too. After a bright start to the season, Hamburger SV have lost four of their last five and are now hovering just above the relegation
places as they host VfB Stuttgart, who will climb into the top four with a win at the Volksparkstadion.
Free-scoring Eintracht Frankfurt, spearheaded by Germany striker Jonathan Burkardt, likewise have top-four ambitions and will be confident of overcoming an out-of-sorts VfL Wolfsburg side eager to arrest their recent slide down the table to 15th.
The weekend concludes with Freiburg taking on an off-colour 1. FSV Mainz 05. The home side started well against Bayern last week and raced to a 2-0 lead before being overwhelmed by the league leaders.
They will be eager to get back on track in this one, especially as their guests have won just once in the Bundesliga this term and currently occupy 17th place in the
table.
Preview Courtesy Bundesliga.Com
