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Can free-scoring Bayer 04 Leverkusen keep Robert Lewandowski quiet for a second successive game and trim FC Bayern München‘s handsome lead at the top of the Bundesliga table? We’ll find out at the Allianz Arena on Matchday 25.
Bayern inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Leverkusen in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign, but Gerardo Seoane’s side have been in sizzling form in 2022. Die Werkself have dropped just four points from a possible 28 in the calendar year, and their formidable front line has plundered 23 goals in that run, including the 30-home win over DSC Arminia Bielefeld last time out that moved them into third place in the table.
Lewandowski, meanwhile, failed to score in Bayern’s 1-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt that came courtesy of substitute Leroy Sane’s goal, but the Poland international has not been held goalless in back-to-back league matches since early October meaning defences will likely be pushed to the limit on Saturday afternoon.
Bayern’s win on Saturday has given them a handy eight-point cushion at the top, a lead swelled thanks also to Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw with struggling Augsburg. Marco Rose’s men are now looking over their shoulders with just four points between themselves and Leverkusen — a trip to unpredictable 1. FSV Mainz 05 is not the one BVB would have preferred to be making as they look for certainty, especially as they are likely to still be without the injured Erling Haaland.
There is also a significant contest at the Red Bull Arena where RB Leipzig host SC Freiburg. Only goal difference separates the fourth-placed hosts from their fifthplaced opponents in the race for Germany’s fourth UEFA Champions League qualifying spot, while a draw would suit TSG Hoffenheim best as they’re also locked on 40 points with the duo. They would shoot up from sixth and into the top four if their rivals cancel each other out, and they record a fourth straight win by triumphing in Cologne on Sunday evening.
The atmosphere will also be tense in Bielefeld where FC Augsburg are the visitors for Friday night’s Matchday curtain-raiser. The hosts are just two points above the bottom three with the visitors teetering on the brink in 15th, safe only thanks to goal difference. Hertha Berlin, currently in 16th and hosting Frankfurt on Saturday, will be watching with interest.
VfL Wolfsburg and VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, who drew 2-2 with each other on Matchday 24, are two stumbling giants both in danger of being sucked into the relegation battle if results go against them. The former host 1. FC Union Berlin, whose win over Mainz last time out ended a three-game losing streak, while the Foals face a ‘relegation six-pointer’ at second-from-bottom VfB Stuttgart, who have picked up just two points from their last nine.
Bottom of the table SpVgg Greuther Fürth tallied a fourth point from a possible nine with their 1-1 draw against 1. FC Köln last weekend — victory at VfL Bochum 1848 on Saturday would give them hope the nine-point gulf between themselves and safety can still be bridged in the closing 10 matches.
