Bundesliga matchday 13 is already agog after FC Schalke 04 went five games without defeat when they ended capital team Union Berlin’s three-game unbeaten run with a 2-1 win at the Veltins Arena on Friday.
Benito Raman scored for Schalke in the 21st minute while Marcus Ingvartsen converted a penalty kick for Union Berlin in the 36th as the first half ended 1-1. Suat Serdar netted the winner for Schalke in the 86th minute.
David Wagner’s team, with that home win, went three steps up the Bundesliga ladder, now in second position on 25 points. But they they know that the standing could change after today’l (Saturday) and Sunday’s matches.
Two of last season’s top four will meet on Saturday evening when champions FC Bayern München host Bayer 04 Leverkusen on matchday 13 of the Bundesliga, while leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach take on fourth-placed SC Freiburg
on Sunday.
Bayern have been hugely impressive since Hansi Flick took over as interim coach, thumping last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in Munich before winning by the same scoreline against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Robert Lewandowski’s record run of 16 goals in the first 11 Bundesliga matchdays came to an end in Düsseldorf, but ninth-placed Leverkusen will still be extremely wary of the league’s joint-top goalscorers.
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Like Bayern in third, second-placed RB Leipzig have scored 33 goals and are just one point behind leaders Gladbach.
Bottom club SC Paderborn will have their work cut out, then, when they entertain Julian Nagelsmann’s high-flyers on Saturday.
Paderborn and two-goal hero Streli Mamba showed plenty of fight in their 3-3 draw in Dortmund last week, but that character will be tested against a Leipzig side that have scored 16 times in their past three league games. The chief threat for the visitors will be Germany striker Timo Werner, who has six goals in his last three Bundesliga outings including one in the 4-1 home win over 1. FC Koln in Week 12. Werner is currently second in the scoring charts, behind 16-goal Lewandowski, with 12 so far.
Gladbach’s three-match winning streak ended with a 2-0 loss at 1. FC Union Berlin last time out, so they will hope to bounce back and get a ninth win in 13 when Freiburg visit on Sunday. The Black Forest club are once again punching above their weight under wily coach Christian Streich and – after holding on for a draw in Leverkusen – they’re now four games unbeaten.
Hertha Berlin, the capital’s other club are hovering above the relegation zone following a 4-0 defeat in Augsburg. They could do with winning at the Olympiastadion on Saturday, but that won’t come easy with Dortmund, in sixth,
determined to make up for their slip-up against Paderborn.
Also only five points off top spot like Dortmund, both TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and VfL Wolfsburg will be up against struggling opponents this weekend. Hoffenheim host third-from-bottom Fortuna on Saturday, while on Sunday the Wolves will look to prey on a Bremen team who have gone eight games without a Bundesliga win.
1. FC Köln, who have lost four in succession, will seek to kick start their bid to get out of the bottom two on Saturday. They take on an FC Augsburg team that havewon their last two to move six points above the Billy Goats in the standings.
Mainz are only a point above Fortuna, who occupy the relegation play-off spot, but confidence must be high amongst the 05ers following their stunning 5-1 win at Hoffenheim. They’ll be keen to clip Eintracht Frankfurt’s wings when the Eagles visit on Monday, especially since Adi Hutter’s team have lost their last two to drop
to 10th.
1 Comment
watch Frankfurt, they achieved amazing result repeatedly and can win home or away, I wonder where Frankfurt will be next season