The Bundesliga returns for another weekend of action in the top flight of German football as Bayern Munich and boss Julian Nagelsmann have now become the hunters as the Bavarians are meant to now chase SC Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund who occupy the top spot in the league going into proceedings starting Friday night.
Upsetting the establishment! 😮@SCFreiburg are in uncharted territory after #Bundesliga #MD5, we take a look at how the small Black Forest club have made it to the top! 🌳 📈 🔝 🔍https://t.co/eS9G1mIVnS
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) September 7, 2022
Bayern has dropped points in their last two league clashes against Borussia Mönchengladbach and Union Berlin and have slipped into third but still remain just one point off first as they are set to welcome tricky VfB Stuttgart to the Allianz Arena as the Swabians have yet to net their first win of the campaign put have picked up a point in four of their five fixtures while remaining difficult to beat.
Freiburg and Dortmund have tricky fixtures of their own against the aforementioned Gladbach and RB Leipzig respectively. Christian Streich’s men will look to take something off a Gladbach outfit that thanked Yann Sommer for record-breaking heroics when they earned a point against Bayern two weeks ago, while Dortmund will look to pile on the misery in their travels to Red Bull Arena after Leipzig parted ways with Domenico Tedesco and look set to replace him with city native and former Dortmund manager Marco Rose.
Marco Rose will be appointed as new RB Leipzig manager, full agreement in place. Leipzig want to get it signed in the next hours to have Rose at work on tomorrow training session. 🚨⚪️🔴 #RBLeipzig
He’s expected to be in charge for the game vs BVB, if there are no issues. pic.twitter.com/vWlxmbS27n
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 7, 2022
Elsewhere, a highly intriguing top-six clash is set to take hold when TSG 1899 Hoffenheim welcome 1.FSV Mainz 05 to Sinsheim with both sides looking to potentially break into the top four when it’s all said and done after the weekend but will keep a keen eye on another top-six clash featuring 1.FC Köln and Union Berlin during Sunday’s short match program as the two antagonists also look to keep pace with the rest of the pack in the race for Europe.
At the other end, VfL Bochum continues to search for their first points of the season when they travel to the Veltins Arena to lock horns with FC Schalke 04, FC Augsburg must hope for a result on the road against SV Werder Bremen, VfL Wolfsburg will push to get out of the cellar and hope to pounce on an Eintracht Frankfurt outfit on the back of a heavy Champions League defeat to Sporting CP, and underperforming Bayer Leverkusen looks to leapfrog disappointing Hertha BSC while distancing themselves from the relegation zone.
Here are the weekend match previews, predictions, and betting tip information for match day six in the Bundesliga.
SV Werder Bremen (T-8th) – FC Augsburg (T-14th)
Key personnel missing:
Bremen – Jean-Manuel Mbom, Leonardo Bittencourt (doubt), Dikeni-Rafid Salifou (doubt)
Augsburg – Felix Uduokhai, Tobias Strobl, Niklas Dorsch, Noah Sarenren Bazee, Reece Oxford (doubt)
Match-up preview:
Werder Bremen has started the season in credible fashion after returning to the Bundesliga and tasting defeat on just one occasion while perpetrating a historic comeback against Borussia Dortmund along the way. Their goalscoring form (12 in five matches) should be enough to see them past a struggling Augsburg outfit that has the joint-worst attack in the league while sitting inside the bottom three.
Prediction: Bremen 2-0 Augsburg
Recommended bet:
Bayern Munich (T-3rd) – VfB Stuttgart (T-12th)
Record/Form: Bayern (4-2-0; WWWDD) – (0-4-1) Stuttgart (DDLDD)
Key personnel missing:
Bayern – Bouna Sarr (doubt)
Stuttgart – Nikolas Nartey, Laurin Ulrich, Tanguy Coulibaly (doubt), Josha Vagnoman (red card), Luca Pfeiffer (red card)
Match-up preview:
Prediction: Bayern have not tasted defeat against Stuttgart in any of their last six meetings (5-1-0) and the Bavarians come into the weekend program on the back of a very credible 2-0 win away from home against Inter Milan in the Champions League. With Julian Nagelsmann’s men no longer top spot, Bayern should come out firing to a comfortable win at the Allianz Arena against what is a tough-to-beat Stuttgart outfit who have drawn four of their five league fixtures.
Recommended bet: Bayern 3-0 Stuttgart
RB Leipzig (11th) – Borussia Dortmund (T-1st)
Record/Form: Leipzig (1-2-2; DDLWL) – Dortmund (4-0-1; WWLWW)
Key personnel missing:
Leipzig – Lukas Klostermann, Dani Olmo, Péter Gulácsi (doubt), Willi Orbán (doubt), Josko Gvardiol (doubt), Yussuf Poulsen (doubt)
Dortmund – Sébastien Haller (out indefinitely), Thorgan Hazard, Mahmoud Dahoud, Gregor Kobel, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Mateu Morey, Karim Adeyemi (doubt), Donyell Malen (doubt)
Match-up preview:
Leipzig and Dortmund bring contrasting fortunes to the table in Saxony at Red Bull Arena on Saturday after RBL sacked Domenico Tedesco on the back of a poor start and two heavy defeats against Eintracht Frankfurt and Shakhtar Donetsk in quick succession and replacing him with former Dortmund boss Marco Rose. Dortmund, however, is joint-top of the table and started their European campaign with a win but are struggling for goals on the home front. This could end in a scoring draw.
Prediction: Leipzig 1-1 Dortmund
Recommended bet:
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (T-6th) – 1.FSV Mainz 05 (5th)
Record/Form: Hoffenheim (3-0-2; LWWWL) – Mainz (3-1-1; WDWLW)
Key personnel missing:
Hoffenheim – Benjamin Hübner, Philipp Pentke, Ermin Bicakcic (doubt), Ihlas Bebou (doubt)
Mainz – Marcus Ingvartsen (doubt)
Match-up preview:
A nearly fully-fit and performing Mainz outfit look to travel to Sinsheim to prize points away from Hoffenheim as both clubs aim to continue their assault on the top six places in the Bundesliga this season. Mainz won both matches last term between these two while keeping a pair of clean sheets and could be considered slight favorites but their inconsistency in attack means Hoffenheim should be good for at least a point in front of home support.
Prediction: Hoffenheim 1-1 Mainz
Recommended bet:
Eintracht Frankfurt (T-8th) – VfL Wolfsburg (17th)
Record/Form: Frankfurt (2-2-1; LDDWW) – Wolfsburg (0-2-3; DLDLL)
Key personnel missing:
Frankfurt – Christopher Lenz, Aurélio Buta, Almamy Touré, Luca Pellegrini (doubt), Sebastian Rode (doubt), Jérôme Onguéné (doubt)
Wolfsburg – Jonas Wind, Yannick Gerhardt (doubt), Patrick Wimmer (doubt)
Match-up preview:
Oliver Glasner’s Frankfurt tasted defeat against Sporting CP in their Champions League clash at home but their third home match in a row could serve them in good stead on the back of good form in the Bundesliga with two wins and two draws in their last four after being decimated by Bayern Munich to kick off the season. Wolfsburg, who are winless this season and leaking goals already, could taste yet another defeat here.
Prediction: Frankfurt 1-0 Wolfsburg
Recommended bet:
Hertha BSC (T-12th) – Bayer Leverkusen (T-14th)
Record/Form: Hertha (1-1-3; LDLLW) – Leverkusen (1-0-4; LLLWL)
Key personnel missing:
Hertha – Rune Jarstein (disciplinary), Jessic Ngankam (fitness), Linus Gechter (fitness), Dong-Jun Lee (fitness), Derry Scherhant (doubt), Kelian Nsona (doubt)
Leverkusen – Florian Wirtz, Karim Bellarabi, Amine Adli, Andrey Lunev
Match-up preview:
Hertha has finally climbed out of the Bundesliga cellar on the back of their first win of the season last weekend away at Augsburg and could fancy their chances in the German capital on Saturday against a Leverkusen outfit that is very much in the weeds. After losing to Club Brugge in the Champions League in midweek, Leverkusen continue their worst overall start in 40-years and continued key absences in the attack could compound them to another loss.
Prediction: Hertha 1-0 Leverkusen
Recommended bet:
FC Schalke 04 (T-14th) – VfL Bochum (18th)
Record/Form: Schalke (0-3-2; LDDLD) – Bochum (0-0-5; LLLLL)
Key personnel missing:
Schalke – Full availability
Bochum – Paul Grave, Konstantinos Stafylidis, Jannes Horn (doubt), Danilo Soares (doubt), Dominique Heintz (doubt)
Match-up preview:
An early relegation six-pointer sees Schalke welcome Bochum in a short trip to Gelsenkirchen for the bottom-dwelling side who have lost each of their five Bundesliga fixtures this season after their solid effort last term in their return to the German top flight. Schalke has problems of their own aplenty, but having secured points in three of their five outings and Bochum boasting the worst defensive record in the league, a first win of the season could be on the cards.
Prediction: Schalke 2-0 Bochum
Recommended bet:
1.FC Köln (T-6th) – Union Berlin (T-3rd)
Record/Form: Köln (2-3-0; WDDDW) – Union (3-2-0; WDWWD)
Key personnel missing:
Köln – Mark Uth, Benno Schmitz, Sebastian Andersson, Dimitris Limnios, Julian Chabot, Mathias Olesen, Eric Martel (fitness)
Union – Timo Baumgartl (out indefinitely)
Match-up preview:
In what could be billed as the most intriguing match of this weekend’s match day six program, Köln plays host to Union Berlin at the RheinEnergieStadion after the dark horse pair continue to perform above expectations in the Bundesliga after securing European football this season. Neither can boast wins at the weekend, however, with Köln drawing OGC Nice in France and Union suffering a frustrating home defeat to Belgian upstarts Union Saint Gilloise. Still, Union has enjoyed a 12-match unbeaten run in the league that extends to last season and their recent record against Köln could see them edge the result.
Prediction: Köln 1-2 Union
Recommended bet:
SC Freiburg (T-1st) – Borussia Mönchengladbach (T-8th)
Record/Form: Freiburg (4-0-1; WLWWW) – Gladbach (2-2-1; WDWDL)
Key personnel missing:
Freiburg – Lucas Höler, Kimberly Ezekwem, Kevin Schade (doubt), Manuel Gulde (doubt), Roland Sallai (doubt), Lukas Kübler (doubt)
Gladbach – Alassane Plea, Nico Elvedi (doubt), Ko Itakura (red card)
Match-up preview:
Freiburg has embarked on what could be another fairytale season at the foot of the Black Forest under beloved manager Christian Streich as the club so nearly earned Champions League football last year and is amidst a Europa League campaign at current while topping the Bundesliga table. Gladbach is looking to reverse their fortunes of last season but is a shadow of yesteryear in many aspects, but still remain a credible fighting force on their day. This could come down to a draw, especially with Freiburg’s midweek commitments.
Prediction: Freiburg 1-1 Gladbach
Recommended bet:
