Thanks to October’s international break, we have had to wait another week for the
return of Bundesliga football. But now the German top-flight is back, with all 18 teams in actions across just two days this coming weekend.
Bundesliga stars were still taking part in international matches as late as Wednesday this week and therefore there will be no Friday night game on Matchday 4. Instead, an extra game will be played on Saturday evening (October 17).
The action begins on Saturday afternoon with Borussia Dortmund’s trip to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim headlining the early fixtures. Two of the Bundesliga’s three highest scorers so far this season will go head-to-head at the PreZero Arena when Erling Haaland (four goals) meets Andrej Kramaric (six goals) in a game you won’t want to miss.
Four other matches will take place at the same time with both RB Leipzig and Bayer04 Leverkusen on the road. Leipzig face a tough trip to high-flying FC Augsburg, who sit joint-top of the table alongside their visitors with seven points from their first three matches. Augsburg have the joint-best defence in the league at this early stage, conceding just once so far.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, are at struggling 1. FSV Mainz 05 with both sides looking
to pick up their first wins of the season. Hertha Berlin host VfB Stuttgart in another
exciting game, with both sides regularly scoring goals so far and looking to earn
what could be a vital three points come the end of the season.
The Saturday afternoon fixtures are rounded off with Sport-Club Freiburg hosting
SV Werder Bremen at the Schwarzwald-Stadion. There are two hotly anticipated fixtures on Saturday evening. First up is newly promoted DSC Arminia Bielefeld hosting current champions FC Bayern München in a Bundesliga fixture for the first time in 18 years. They are the only team Robert Lewandowski is yet to score against, although he hasn’t yet faced them.
Following that game, Borussia Mönchenglabdach welcome VfL Wolfsburg to
Borussia-Park hoping to breach the Wolves’ defence which – like Augsburg – has
conceded just once so far this season, helping them to three consecutive draws.
Sunday’s double-header of fixtures sees two teams keen to kickstart their
campaigns at home with 1. FC Köln at the RheinEnergieStadion against Eintracht
Frankfurt, and FC Schalke 04 hosting 1. FC Union Berlin at the Veltins-Arena.
The hosts are two of the three teams – alongside Mainz – yet to pick up a point so
far in 2020-21, with Köln the only one of the trio of teams yet to have changed their head coach; Markus Gisdol thus far being trusted with turning the Billy Goats’
fortunes around.
