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Bundesliga leaders FC Bayern München face a tricky trip to the capital on Matchday 10 while SC Freiburg – the only unbeaten team left – will look to extend their remarkable run when they host bottom side SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
After romping to a 4-0 victory away to Benfica in the UEFA Champions League,
Bayern followed up with a thumping 4-0 victory at home to TSG Hoffenheim last Saturday. Robert Lewandowski got a league-high 10th goal of the season in the latter game – one which saw Manuel Neuer claim his 300th Bundesliga victory – the Bavarians could face a stiffer test at 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday.
Union drew twice with the reigning champions in the 2020/21 campaign. Led by impressive attacking pair Max Kruse and Taiwo Awoniyi, they are fifth in the table and still unbeaten at home this term, whether at the Schwarzwald-Stadion or the new Europa-Park Stadion.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund trail Bayern by one point in the title race. With Jude Bellingham’s breathtaking goal at Arminia Bielefeld still fresh in the memory, they’ll hope to make it four Bundesliga wins in a row on Saturday afternoon. Without injured talisman Erling Haaland, though, Dortmund could find it tough at home to a 1. FC Köln side that drew their Rhine Derby against Bayer 04 Leverkusen thanks to a double from Anthony Modeste.
Freiburg, meanwhile, are flying high after a 2-0 win at VfL Wolfsburg kept them in third and only three points behind Bayern. A second game in their striking new stadium sees them take on Fürth, and Christian Streich’s team will be confident of making it 10 league games unbeaten given that the promoted visitors have now lost seven in a row.
Leverkusen in fourth are also in action on Saturday, hosting a Wolfsburg team that have dropped from first to ninth after suffering four league defeats in succession. Interim coach Michael Frontzeck will take charge of the Wolves for the first time after the club parted ways with Mark van Bommel.
Currently second from bottom, Bielefeld will seek their first league win of the campaign when they take on seventh-placed 1. FSV Mainz 05, while fourth bottom Eintracht Frankfurt host RB Leipzig in Saturday’s late kick-off.
A 4-1 win over Fürth was another sign that Leipzig are starting to fire under American head coach Jesse Marsch. They will now look to cement their place in the top six against a Frankfurt side that have lost the two league games they have played since earning a famous victory at Bayern.
Matchday 10 actually gets underway on Friday when improving Hertha Berlin are at fellow midtable outfit Hoffenheim, while there are also two games on Sunday. FC Augsburg – third from bottom – and VfB Stuttgart – three places above the home side – are both in need of a win ahead of their meeting in Bavaria.
Twelfth-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach round off the top-flight action when they face promoted VfL Bochum 1848. After winning their last two matches, the visitors start the weekend only one point behind Gladbach.
Meanwhile, in Bundesliga 2 the promotion race is already hotting up. Pacesetters FC St. Pauli are the form team, having scored 18 goals during their current run of five consecutive league wins. Pauli’s winning streak will be put to the test when they travel to midtable northern rivals SV Werder Bremen on Saturday, with FC Schalke 04 ready to profit from any slip-up.
Led by 11 goals from German second-tier promotion specialist Simon Terodde, Schalke are only three points off the top after stringing together four wins in a row without conceding a goal. The Royal Blues kick off Matchday 12 on Friday with a trip to midtable Heidenheim.
