Bundesliga Weekend Preview: Round 12

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Bundesliga, Bayern München - Schalke 04, Jansen - Asamoah (firo)

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Friday 7th November (all times local)

20:30  1.FC Köln – Hannover 

Saturday 8th November

15:30  Hamburg – Borussia Dortmund 

15:30  VfL Wolfsburg – Energie Cottbus

15:30  Karlsruhe – Bayer Leverkusen 

15:30  VfL Bochum – Werder Bremen

15:30  Arminia Bielefeld – Borussia Mönchengladbach   

Sunday 9th November

17:00  Schalke 04 – Bayern Munich 

17:00  Eintracht Frankfurt – VfB Stuttgart

17:00  Hertha Berlin – 1899 Hoffenheim    

1.FC Köln – Hannover  

The Friday night game sees Köln hosting Hannover at the Rhein-Energie Stadion with both sides looking to build upon impressive victories last weekend.   

Christophe Daum’s side took all three points away from the Mercedes Benz Arena last Saturday against Stuttgart, which made up for them losing their previous two games.  The Geiβböcke currently sit 11th in the table, which when you consider the plight of fellow promoted side Borussia Mönchengladbach, is positively a healthy place to be.  

Daum looks set to revert to his 4-2-3-1 formation and with Ehret still not fully fit, Chihi will play on the left.   

An injury-ravaged Hannover side performed above themselves last weekend securing a 3-0 home win over Hamburg.  That win brought to an end a barren run of four games without a win and will give them confidence they can climb out of the relegation struggle they find themselves in.   

Dieter Hecking’s injury woes are finally starting to ease and both Mario Eggimann and Frank Fahrenhorst could be fit to return to the centre of defence.   

Hamburg – Borussia Dortmund   

HSV suffered their third 3-0 away defeat of the season last weekend rather surprisingly to injury-hit Hannover.  The ‘Rothosen’ have been challenging at the top of the table for most of the early part of the season put have suffered three heavy defeats away from the HSH Nordbank Arena (to Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim, and Hannover.)  Martin Jol will want to see a return to winning ways, but that won’t be easy with the visit of Dortmund.  

Although back in the squad, it is likely that a place in the starting XI will be  a little beyond both Nigel de Jong and Marcell Jansen.  Should Guy Demel not make it, then Jerome Boateng will go in at right back.   

Borussia Dortmund have become the draw specialists of late having taken just one point in four of their last five Bundesliga outings.  They were disappointed last week in the derby with Bochum and face a wounded HSV looking to respond to their own disappointment last week.  

Trainer Jürgen Klopp has Tamas Hajnal and Nelson Valdez back in training following injuries as well as Kuba Blaszczykowski  after an operation on his broken nose.  Whether all three play remains to be seen.  Definitely out is Alexander Frei, and he joins Mats Hummels and Dede on the sidelines.  

VfL Wolfsburg – Energie Cottbus  

Wolfsburg entertain bottom side Energie Cottbus at the Volkswagen Arena on Saturday needing a win to lift themselves out of mid table.  Felix Magath’s side suffered defeat last Friday at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, which sees them down in ninth place.   

Magath has a full squad to select from, and will be looking for the Wölfe to maintain their unbeaten home record this season.  

Cottbus find themselves in much the same position as last season propping up the table with a third of the season played.  Last weekend they slumped to a 2-0 home defeat to Schalke despite playing much of the second 45 minutes with a man extra following the sending off of Engelaar.  The pressure is on the Lausitzer as is was in the previous campaign.  

Trainer Bojan Prasnikar will have striker Dimitar Rangelov available again after his red-card suspension last weekend.  He will likely opt for a 4-4-2 formation with either Jula or Sörensen in attack alongside Rangelov.    

Karlsruhe – Bayer Leverkusen   

Karlsruhe will be looking to put a stop to a downward spiral on Saturday when they face high-flying Bayer Leverkusen.  The Baden side have now lost their last five league matches which has seen them slip down to 14th in the table.  The arrival of second placed Bayer Leverkusen therefore is not exactly what KSC needs right now.  

Trainer Edmund Becker has question marks over the fitness and availability of Maik Franz, Antonio da Silva and Joshua Kennedy for the visit of the Werkself to the Wildparkstadion.  

In stark contrast to their opponents, Leverkusen have won their last four matches and all by the same score- 2-0.  Bruno Labbadia’s side continue their to-and-fro battle with Hoffenheim for the top spot, with the minnows from Sinsheim currently ahead by a single point.  

The line-up for Bayer is unlikely to change from the side that beat Wolfsburg last weekend, with Patrick Helmes likely to play despite complaining of a thigh problem this week.    

VfL Bochum – Werder Bremen  

Which Werder Bremen will turn up at the Rewirpower Stadion this weekend- that is the question.  Last Saturday saw the Green and Whites back in their groove as they demolished Hertha with a five goal blitz, but then they were back to their worst in midweek when slumping to a 3-0 home loss in the Champions League to Panathinaikos.  Not for the first time this season, trainer Thomas Schaaf will be seeking a reaction from his team.  

There are unlikely to be major changes from Werder.  Daniel Jensen is still out injured, while Clemens Fritz suffered an  injury set-back against Panathinaikos.  Torsten Frings, who was suspended on Wednesday will return.  

Bochum are without a win in the last seven league games so they too are desperate for a win.  Their last three points arrived back in September when they beat Bielefeld 2-0.  Last weekend they took a point away from the Signal-Iduna Park after a 1-1 draw with Ruhr rivals Dortmund.  

Paul Freier has collected five yellow cards this season so is suspended so Dabrowski could play on the right on the midfield.  Oliver Schröder is also a doubt, so Marc Pfertzel will come into defence.  

Arminia Bielefeld – Borussia Mönchengladbach  

There is a real basement battle at the Schüco-Arena  this Saturday when 16th placed Arminia Bielefeld host 18th placed Borussia Mönchengladbach.  It goes without saying that both trainers desperately need the points.  

The ‘Arminen’ have gone six games without a win and will want to take advantage of the arrival of an under-performing Gladbach.  

New Fohlen trainer Hans Meyer started off with a win against Karlsruhe, but has since seen his troops lose two on the trot.  He will be without the injured Gohouri though and the suspended Coulibaly.     

Schalke 04 – Bayern Munich   

The weekend’s big match however takes place on Sunday when Schalke entertain Bayern Munich at the Veltins Arena.  The Königsblauen now trail Bayern in the table by a point with Schalke in fourth and Bayern in third.   

Fred Rutten’s side have now won two in a row after a run of three consecutive draws.  Their hard-fought win last weekend against Cottbus would have given them a boost.  Orlando Engelaar’s red card last weekend sees him suspended, so Fabian Ernst will come into the midfield.  Christian Pander may take his place on the substitute’s bench.  

Bayern for their part have notched up four league wins on the trot and propelled themselves up to third and now sit just four points behind leaders Hoffenheim.  They will be boosted by the draw they achieved in midweek in Florence which sees them all-but qualified for the Champions League knock-out stage.  

Luca Toni may be fit enough to return, but if not then either Lukas Podolski will deputise or Klinsmann will revert to a 4-2-3-1 with Klose up front by himself.  

Eintracht Frankfurt – VfB Stuttgart  

12th play 10th at the Commerzbank Arena as Eintracht entertain Stuttgart, who are just four points ahead of them.  The ‘Adler’ have dragged themselves off the bottom of the table with three wins in their last four games with only defeat to Bayern a blot on the landscape.   

Friedhelm Funkel still has lots of injuries to cope with.  Japanese midfielder Junichi Inamoto will still be out injured  

Stuttgart have now lost two in a row and were most disappointing last weekend at home to Köln.  Armin Veh’s side continue to be inconsistent.  They can go out in one game and beat Werder 4-1, but then suffer a 3-1 home defeat to Köln in another. 

Injury-wise, Khalid Boulahrouz has now joined Yildiray Bastürk on the sidelines for VfB.      

Hertha Berlin – 1899 Hoffenheim  

The capital club wrap up the weekend action with a home encounter with table topping Hoffenheim, for whom the dream start just continues.   

The ‘Old Lady’ are currently 7th but were on the end of a real beating last weekend at the Weser Stadion as they had no answer to Werder Bremen.  Trainer Lucien Favre is hoping that was a one-off and that Hertha can be the team to stop the seemingly unstoppable Hoffenheim.  

Few would have believed you (Hoffenheim fans included) if you had told them they would be top of the table one third of the way through the season, but that is the case.  A run of five wins on the bounce with 31 goals scored in total sees them a point ahead of nearest rivals Bayer Leverkusen.  

Their forward line is just scoring by the bucket load and Vedad Ibisevic has already bagged 13 thus far.  They do however have an injury doubt this weekend with key defender Marvin Compper out of action. 

Mathew Burt