The Bundesliga continues into the second month of 2021 with a headline
fixture to kick-off the weekend in style under the Friday night lights of the
capital.
League leaders FC Bayern München travel to Berlin to begin the action, facing
Hertha Berlin on Friday at the Olympiastadion. The Old Lady have taken points in
five of their last eight meetings with the record German champions, and new head
coach Pal Dardai has been in charge of four of those.
However, Hertha will have to find a way to stop Robert Lewandowski, who remains
on course to break Gerd Müller’s 40-goal season record. Bayern’s No.9 has scored
in each of his last eight away matches played in the Bundesliga.
Four of the top six teams in the table are in action on what is sure to be an
entertaining set of fixtures on Saturday afternoon. Second-placed RB Leipzig travel
to face bottom club FC Schalke 04, who could see returning favourite Klaas-Jan
Huntelaar start for the first time, as well as deadline day signing Skhodran Mustafi.
Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, will be in the Black Forest as they return to the
Schwarzwald-Stadion to face SC Freiburg. Edin Terizc led his side to a dramatic DFB
Cup last 16 victory over Bundesliga 2 side SC Paderborn in midweek and will be
desperate to keep his side in the hunt for a top-four finish on Saturday.
Two of the league’s most enjoyable teams to watch so far this campaign meet
the same time, with Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcoming VfB Stuttgart to the BayArena.
There was a midweek cup upset for Leverkusen, who were knocked out by RotWeiss Essen of the fourth tier. Rewriting those wrongs will be at the forefront of
Peter Bosz’s plans, but it won’t come easy against Pellegrino Matarazzo’s impressive
outfit.
Third-placed VfL Wolfsburg, who sit three points behind Leipzig, are at FC Augsburg
as they – led by the club record 13 goals in 19 games of Wout Weghorst – look to
keep their charge for European qualification on track.
Elsewhere on Saturday, a 1. FSV Mainz 05 side fighting for every point against
relegation meet 1. FC Union Berlin who are right in the mix for a European push
through the second half of the season.
On Saturday evening the drama continues with one of the Bundesliga’s biggest
rivalries taking centre stage once more. Borussia Mönchengladbach host 1. FC Köln
in the second Rhine-Derby of the season. The Billy Goats ended a near one-year
wait for a home victory in the Bundesliga last weekend but have not claimed a win
at Borussia-Park since 2016.
The first of our Sunday double-headers sees two of the league’s top strikers – Andrej
Kramaric and Andre Silva – face one another as TSG Hoffenheim play host to
Eintracht Frankfurt. That is before DSC Arminia Bielefeld and SV Werder Bremen round off the weekend’s
action in a relegation six-pointer that will be just as dramafilled as the rest of the fixtures on Matchday 20.
