The Friday evening matchday opener features Borussia Monenchgladbach and Bayer Leverkusen. Leverkusen holds on to second spot, with a four point lead over Borussia Dortmund, while Bayern with its 13 point lead is expected to keep coasting toward the league championship.
Gladbach with back to back losses against Bayern and Hannover, has slipped to the fifth spot. The Foalen face Bayer Leverkusen, which continues to surprise this season. While Gladbach will attempt to move up on the table, Leverkusen will want to solidify its second place spot. The encounter in Gladbach could be challenging. A Gladbach win would hand Leverkusen its third straight away defeat. Definitely there is a lot to think about for both teams. Be prepared for a thriller.
Frankfurt hosts Braunschweig on Saturday. After the five goal trouncing against Bayern, Frankfurt wil have the motivation to resurface. While they meet the basement of the league Braunschweig, the side is not to be taken for granted. Braunschweig has spirit and can be a major heartache for its opponennts. A lot of the losses have been close decisions. Frankfurt has to put the Bayern game in its past and concentrate on Braunschweig. Eintracht is only one spot away from moving into relegation. The motivation is there for both sides.
Dortmund, which moved back into third spot last weekend, will be meeting a recently declining side Bremen. Odds would tell you that Dortmund should win this, with most of its regular defence back on the pitch. Playing in northern Germany is always a challenge this time of the year. Dortmund will want to reinforce last week's win to at least keep pace with Leverkusen, hopeful to take up second spot later in the season. Bremen needs a win to stop its downward spiral. Dortmund may be intimidating, but the side has to think positive.
1. FC Nuernberg hosts Bayern Muenchen in the local Bayern Darby. A win by the record champions is not always a given when local rivals meet. Nuernberg has recently made a comeback and seems to firing on all cylinders since the return from the winter break. Bayern's side will have to keep its wits about them and not take Nuernberg as an easy challenge. It certainly is not.
The remaining three matches on Saturday see Freiburg meeting Hoffenheim, which is a hard match to call, Wolfsburg hosts Mainz and Hamburger SV hosts Hertha BSC Berlin.
On Sunday VFB Stuttgart hosts FC Augsburg, a match that should be exciting for the fans. Augsburg are practically neighbours and the match should be a challenge for both sided.
The last match on Sunday sees Schalke hosting Hannover. Shalke moved back into fourth spot last weekend, after a decent return from the winter break. Hannover will certainly have its hands full.
Friday 7 February Bor. Mönchengladbach vs Bayer Leverkusen 0-1
Saturday 8 February
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Eintr. Braunschweig
Werder Bremen vs Borussia Dortmund
1. FC Nürnberg vs Bayern München
SC Freiburg vs 1899 Hoffenheim
VfL Wolfsburg vs FSV Mainz 05
Hamburger SV vs Hertha BSC
Sunday 9 February
VfB Stuttgart vs FC Augsburg
Schalke 04 vs Hannover 96
Posn Team GP W D L GF/GA Points
1 FC Bayern 19 17 2 0 47:9 53
2 Leverkusen 20 14 1 5 37:20 43
3 Dortmund 19 11 3 5 42:23 36
4 Schalke 19 10 4 5 37:27 34
5 M'gladbach 20 10 3 7 36:25 33
6 Wolfsburg 19 9 3 7 30:24 30
7 Mainz 19 9 3 7 29:33 30
8 Hertha BSC 19 8 4 7 28:24 28
9 Augsburg 19 8 4 7 26:28 28
10 Hannover 19 7 3 9 29:33 24
11 Hoffenheim 19 5 6 8 39:42 22
12 Bremen 19 5 5 9 23:40 20
13 Stuttgart 19 5 4 10 31:35 19
14 Freiburg 19 4 6 10 19:35 18
15 Frankfurt 19 3 6 9 21:34 18
17 Nürnberg 19 2 11 6 24:34 17
16 Hamburg 19 4 4 11 33:44 16
18 B'schweig 19 3 3 13 11:34 12
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