Bundesliga Match Day 23: Weekend Preview and Forecast
The Julian Nagelsmann Derby is on!
As the young coach winds down his time with Hoffenheim, he will travel to Leipzig -- where the 31-year-old will be leading the charge for Die Roten Bullen next season -- one last time to try and hand his future team a defeat.
TSG1899 has been really solid of late. In its last 15 Bundesliga games, Hoffenheim has only lost one time (to Bayern Munich on January 18th) with six wins and eight draws. Nagelsmann has his team playing extremely well, but RB Leipzig will likely be geared up to win what looks to be a crucial game.
Leipzig currently sits in fourth place with 41 points, holding a five point advantage over the resurgent boys from Bayer Leverkusen. Every game is important for Die Roten Bullen if it wants to secure a Champions League berth.
Hoffenheim, meanwhile, is fighting like hell to at least get into sixth place and secure an opportunity to play in the Europa League. With 33 points, TSG1899 is currently on the outside looking in, but is well within striking distance of Leverkusen (36 points) and Wolfsburg (35 points), and Eintracht Frankfurt (34 points). Hoffenheim cannot afford to let down.
For as much as some outsiders knock the Bundesliga, the race for the top six positions is going to be thrilling down the stretch and this match should help generate the type of excitement we are talking about.
Leipzig's players will be looking to make an impression on their incoming coach and we are expecting Timo Werner to finally get back in the scoring column this weekend (then again, we expected that last week, too!).
Prediction: RB Leipzig 2, Hoffenheim 1
Werder Bremen 2, VfB Stuttgart 1: After Claudio Pizarro's dramatic extra time goal to force a draw with Hertha Berlin last weekend, Werder Bremen is still in a prime position to make a run at a top-six position. Die Werderaner are just playing strong and have truly developed into one of the fun, up-and-coming teams in the league.
Stuttgart is spiraling toward relegation and does have the talent base to upset Werder Bremen, but I just can't see it happening here. A team with Benjamin Pavard, Mario Gomez, and Christian Gentner as a core should be better than Stuttgart has been. Stuttgart is within three points of leaving the RELEGATION DANGER ZONE, but this is a hard task against a Bremen team that has not shown a willingness to let down against anyone.
Stuttgart has had a hell of a time in travelling to Weserstadion. In its last 10 Bundesliga matches at Werder Bremen, Stuttgart is winless (six losses and four draws), which is a trend I'd expect to continue.
Borussia Monchengladbach 2, Wolfsburg 1: Another fascinating matchup as M'Gladbach will be looking to get back on the winning track after two consecutive weeks without a win (draw with Eintracht Frankfurt, loss to Hertha Berlin). This is about the tie that Thorgan Hazard reminds everyone just how talented he is and leads the Foals to a "W."
For as good as the Wolves have been this season, this is a tough spot for them. I expect Wolfsburg to be very competitive in this one, but M'Gladbach should just be a bit too strong and hungry for a victory.
Bayern Munich 3, Hertha Berlin 1: Bayern exacted a little revenge on Die Alte Dame by eliminating it from the DFB-Pokal, but the Bavarians will surely want to dispatch Hertha at the Allianz Arena as well.
Hertha really frustrated Bayern earlier in the season and provided a bit of a blueprint for how other Bundesliga teams should play against Bayern. This, however, is a different Bayern team. More focused and willing to accept the coaching of Niko Kovac (at times anyway), Bayern has the look and feel of a team that is going to end up atop the table once again.
For as effective as the Bavarians have been lately, Robert Lewandowski has been held off the scoresheet. In the past that might have been a death knell for Bayern, but the Polish Hitman has found so many other ways to contribute and help the offense. In this one, however, we'd expect Lewandowski to find the back of the net a couple of times.
SC Freiburg 2, FC Augsburg 2: This game should be a lot of fun with both teams really needing a "W." Augsburg has just one Bundesliga win in its last 13 games (three draws), but should be so much better. Freiburg, meanwhile, is on a five-game winless streak (three draws), but has shown more fight of late under Christian Streich.
Augsburg has one win and five losses in its last six trips to Schwarzwald-Stadion overall and this one should look pretty grim considering Die Fuggerstädter's awful run of results, but I just feel like these two teams are about evenly matched at this point.
As always for these teams, however, injuries could play a big role in the outcomes. If Alfred Finnbogason (questionable - calf injury) cannot play, Augsburg will need a lot more offensive contribution from Michael Gregoritsch, who is scoreless in his last seven Bundesliga games. Freiburg is relatively healthy, which should help its case a bit, but I'm seeing this one as a draw anyway.
Schalke 2, Mainz 1: Schalke's deflating 3-2 collapse (after leading 2-0) against Manchester City in the Champions League was the perfect snapshot for their its season. So much promise, but an ugly showing that resulted in abject failure.
This trip to the Opel Arena will not be easy for Schalke either, as Mainz is extremely tough to dismiss despite Die Königsblauen's recent success over M05 (five straight wins for Schalke). This is one of those instances where I have no real logic in picking Schalke. After being humbled by Manchester City and after scuffling along in a pretty horrific manner for most of the Bundesliga season, I should be picking against them on the road here. But I'm not...I just have a (likely bad) hunch that Domenico Tedesco's crew will pull out a tough win.
Fortuna Dusseldorf 2, FC Nurnberg 1: My how the Bundesliga journey for these two teams has veered off in different directions. F95 has regrouped and made itself into a competitive German squad that is sitting in 12th place (admittedly nothing to write home about, but Dusseldorf looked BAD early on). Der Club, however, has been on an epic slide.
Aside of a shocking draw with Borussia Dortmund, Nurnberg has been bad. Der Club is winless in its last 16 Bundesliga games, with only five draws in the that stretch. This should be competitive, but F95 should be primed to pull out a win.
Eintracht Frankfurt 4, Hannover 96 1: Die Adler will fly in this one. Depending on how Adi Hutter chooses to rotate his squad, this could be an overpowering offensive showing for Frankfurt as it travels to HDI-Arena.
If Hutter chooses to stray form deploying Luka Jovic, Sebastien Haller, and Ante Rebic together, the score will be tighter, but Eintracht Frankfurt will still prevail.
Bayer Leverkusen 2, Borussia Dortmund 1: Leverkusen had a brutal showing in being eliminated from the Europa League this week, but has shown a remarkable ability to regroup for the Bundeslga so far under Peter Bosz.
Dortmund has seen the wheels fall off a bit...ok, those wheels have flown off. Whatever is going with BVB, it seems to be lingering. If Marco Reus can return, it should boost Dortmund, but some of that confidence and swagger that the Black and Yellows had earlier in the season has clearly been missing of late.
Leverkusen's roller coaster ride under Bosz has brought out the potential from players like Julian Brandt and Leon Bailey, and may have even enhanced the already spectacular play of Kai Havertz -- despite the team's uneven play in the Europa League and DFB-Pokal. I'm expecting Die Werkself to give BVB all it can handle.
Match day record: 6-3
Season record: 95-103
Note: Predicted ties count as a win if correct and as a loss if there is a winner; conversely if a game is predicted to have a winner but ends in a tie, it will count as a loss.
