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The world’s eyes will be on the Signal Iduna Park this Saturday as the first Klassiker of the Bundesliga season takes centre stage on Matchday 12.
Despite FC Bayern München’s unbeaten domestic start, including five consecutive wins and clean sheets, that has seen them grow a six-point lead at the top of the table, they face a tough test at fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund, who extended their flawless home run in all competitions this season with a 4-0 win over SC Freiburg last weekend.
Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in his first Klassiker appearance in Dortmund a year ago, and he goes into the Saturday evening showdown in spectacular form as well. Three more goals at home to FC Augsburg last Friday have seen the England international striker become the fastest-ever man to net 50 goals in the Bundesliga – and take the lead in the top scorers’ race for this season, with 14 strikes already.
That Dortmund scored four goals last weekend without lead striker Serhou Guirassy – who missed the encounter with Freiburg due to illness but is expected to return in time to face Bayern – should also give the Black and Yellows renewed confidence at a time the severe injury crisis they faced before the international break is easing.
The rest of the action starts with a real six-pointer on Friday evening as the two newly promoted sides, FC St. Pauli and Holstein Kiel, clash at the Millerntor. Both sides are in the bottom three currently and lost last Sunday, with Kiel beaten 3-0 at home by 1. FSV Mainz 05 and Borussia Mönchengladbach beating St. Pauli 2-0.
RB Leipzig will hope to reverse a poor run of form that has seen them fail to win any of their last three Bundesliga outings when they host VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday afternoon. The encounter will see former Leipzig coach Ralph Hasenhüttl return to the Red Bull Arena.
Leipzig will be keen to land three points to keep some pressure on Bayern after falling eight points behind the league leaders in third. Should they fail to win, they could be overtaken by Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
The champions mounted an impressive comeback to beat 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 5-2 last weekend, with Patrik Schick smashing a hat-trick when deputising for the injured Victor Boniface. They face a difficult away trip to 1. FC Union Berlin though, who are unbeaten at home under new coach Bo Svensson.
Gladbach are one of the form teams in the league with five unbeaten matches behind them, and they visit Freiburg level on points but ahead of Julian Schuster’s side on goal difference.
VfB Stuttgart are just inside the top half of the table in ninth, following a 2-0 win at home to VfL Bochum 1848. Last season’s runners-up will aim to build on that when they visit SV Werder Bremen on Saturday.
The other pre-Klassiker Saturday kick-off will see bottom-of-the-table Bochum try to land their first away points or win of any kind this campaign at 14th-placed Augsburg.
The first of two Sunday kick-offs is an enticing prospect as Christian Ilzer takes his TSG Hoffenheim side to Mainz having made a dream start in the club’s dugout with a 4-3 home success over Leipzig. Four matches unbeaten show that Bo Henriksen’s Mainz will be far from a pushover.
Hoffenheim do have a UEFA Europa League match on Thursday to contest first, and two other sides who are also in European action on Thursday will clash in the final fixture of the weekend. Heidenheim will look to show their home strength again after dropping to 15th in the table with their defeat in Leverkusen, while Eintracht Frankfurt will seek to keep within distance or close the gap to Bayern at the top (depending on the result in the Klassiker) after going into the matchday second in the table.
