Bundesliga Matchday 9 Preview - Lead Trio in a tight race

After the World Cup qualifying break last week, in which "Die Mannschaft"  won its match against Northern Ireland 3-1 and Sweden 5-3, all eyes are back on the Bundesliga.  The top trio, Bayern Muenchen, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen is six points ahead of the pack, which led by Gladbach, ahead of Hannover and Berlin.

Leverkusen kicks off the matchday at Hoffenheim on Friday evening and should be able to capture the three points in Sinsheim.  Don't discount Hoffenheim though, with a 3+ goal average in the Bundesliga in eight matchdays, Hoffenheim games have yielded the most goals.  Will this trend continue?

On Saturday second placed Dortmund, one point behind Bayern, travels to fifth placed Hannover.  Juergen Klopp's Borussen will want to keep pace with Bayern, especially on their home pitch.  Dortmund has the clear advantage over Hannover, which would be happy to gain one point in Dortmund.

Bayern Muenchen host Mainz 05, which has only won three of their eight starts.  Bayern remains the only team in the league without a loss.  Can the Bavarians make it nine?  The odds are in their favour in the Allianz arena.  With Schweinsteiger back in form, it will be interesting to see how Pep Guardiola mans his team.  Will Thomas Mueller, once again be in the striker role, or will he move to the midfield in favour of Mandzukic?  Mainz will likely close up its defence and bounce on the Munich defence with quick counters.  While Munich has the possession game down to a fine science, it has lacked in the scoring department.  Will this be the game where Bayern's scorers explode?

Braunschweig faces Schalke 04.  The newly promoted Eintracht finally picked up a win, but can it record its second one against Schalke.  Schalke seems to have improved over the past few games and a win would place them into the top six and closer to the leaders.  This is certainly something for the Knappen to aim for.

SC Freiburg, with one of its worst starts into the season with four draws and four losses, will be battling Werder Bremen, which is currently in eighth spot.  This is another challenge for the Freiburg club.  Werder Bremen should be the favourite.

Eintracht Frankfurt with just nine points is currently in the bottom third of the league and will be traveling to Franken to meet Nuernberg, which currently is only in 16th spot.  Frankfurt should be the favourite, but Nuernberg can never be written off at home.

The two remaining matches will be played on Sunday, with seventh placed Stuttgart traveling to Hamburg, which holds 15th spot.  This match could go either way.  The second match on Sunday is between FC Augsburg and VFL Wolfsburg.  Augsburg has been strong at home.  Wolfsburg has lost 5 of its first eight starts.  Will Augsburg continue its march forward?

Regardless of the results this should be another goal filled weekend, with sold out venues.  


Friday 18 October 1899 Hoffenheim vs Bayer Leverkusen  1-2

Saturday 19 October
     Borussia Dortmund vs Hannover 96        
Bayern München vs FSV Mainz 05        
Werder Bremen vs SC Freiburg        
Eintr. Braunschweig vs Schalke 04        
Eintracht Frankfurt vs 1. FC Nürnberg        
Hertha BSC vs Bor. Mönchengladbach    

Sunday 20 October
     Hamburger SV vs VfB Stuttgart        
FC Augsburg vs VfL Wolfsburg   

Place-----Team-----------------------GP---W---D----L---GF/GA ---Pts

1--------Bayer Leverkusen-------------9----7----1-----1------20:9-------22
2--------FC Bayern Muenchen--------8----6----2-----0------15-3-------20
3--------Borussia Dortmund-----------8----6----1-----1------21:7-------19
4--------Borussia M'gladbach----------8----4----1-----3-----19:13-------13
5--------Hannover 96--------------------8----4----1-----3-----11:11------13
6------- Hertha BSC Berlin-------------8----3----3-----2-----14:9--------12
7-------VFB Stuttgart--------------------8----3----2-----3-----16:10-------11 
8-------Werder Bremen------------------8----3----2-----3------9:12--------11
9-------FC Schalke 04-------------------8----2----2-----4-----13:18--------11
10------1899 Hoffenheim---------------9----2----4-----3-----21:22--------10
11------Mainz 05-------------------------8----3----1-----4-----12:17--------10
12----- FCAugsburg---------------------8----3----1-----4-------9:15--------10
13-------Eintracht Frankfurt------------8----2----3-----3-----11:13----------9
14-------VFL Wolfsburg-----------------8---3----0-----5-------9:11----------9
15------Hamburg-------------------------8----2----2-----4-----18:18----------8
16------1. FC Nürnberg-----------------8-----0----5-----3------9:17----------5
17------SC Freiburg---------------------8-----0----4-----4------9:18----------4
18------Eintracht Braunschweig-------8-----1----1-----6------5:19----------4