Bundesliga Weekend Preview: Round 3

Friday 29th August (all times local)

20:30  Karlsruhe – 1.FC Köln Saturday

Saturday 30th August

15:30  Schalke – Bochum

15:30  Wolfsburg – Eintracht Frankfurt

15:30  Bayer Leverkusen – 1899 Hoffenheim

15:30  Energie Cottbus – Borussia Dortmund

15:30  Arminia Bielefeld – Hamburg

15:30  Borussia Mönchengladbach – Werder Bremen

Sunday 31st August

17:00  Bayern Munich – Hertha Berlin

17:00  VfB Stuttgart – Hannover

Karlsruhe – 1.FC Köln

The Friday night match-up sees Karlsruhe welcome Köln to the Wildparkstadion with both sides in need of the points for differing reasons.

Edmund Becker’s side were unlucky to come away from Hamburg without a point last week after Joris Mathijsen downed them with a last-minute winner.  After winning their opener against Bochum, they very nearly made the ideal start to the season, but the signs are already there that KSC are going to be a difficult side to beat again this season.

Köln are still rueing the missed penalty against Frankfurt at home last Sunday.  Had Antar converted just before half-time, then the Geißböcke could well have grabbed all three points, but an equaliser from Fenin denied them the win.

It’s important for Christoph Daum’s side to pick up points at the start of the season so as not to be playing catch-up from the very start.  An away win against Karlsruhe would be just the tonic.

Schalke – Bochum

Schalke will be looking to wipe away the huge disappointment of their midweek Champions League exit to Atletico Madrid with a win in the Bundesliga on Saturday against Bochum.

The Königsblauen followed up their opening day demolition of Hannover with a 1-1 draw against Werder last week.  How much trainer Fred Rutten adjusts his team remains to be seen, but definitely out are Manuel Neuer and Orlando Engelaar.  Jefferson Farfan however, could be in contention to return.

Bochum have just one point to their name thus far- achieved last week against Wolfsburg, and trainer Marcel Koller knows he has a tough time on his hands in this Ruhr derby.

Thomas Zdebel and Shinji Ono could come into the team but apart from that he looks set to keep the faith in those that held Wolfsburg on Sunday.

Wolfsburg – Eintracht Frankfurt

Tipped by many to be an outside bet to break into the top three this season, Wolfsburg have struggled a little so far this season, but have the chance to get their campaign really off and running against an Eintracht Frankfurt side that have also failed to set the league alight in their opening fixtures.

An opening day win over Köln was followed last Sunday with a rather listless draw away to Bochum which had trainer Felix Magath far from satisfied.  The good news is that striker Grafite should be back in contention for the Wölfe after serving his two-match suspension following his sending off in a friendly against Palermo.

Frankfurt have also had a far from inspiring start to the new campaign with a defeat to Hertha Berlin and a draw against Köln.  Friedhelm Funkel saw his side grab their first point of the campaign and he will be looking to at least repeat that feat at the Volkswagen Arena.

Goalscorer from last week, Martin Fenin, could start alongside Ioannis Amanatidis, while Liberopoulos is also looking for a starting berth.

Bayer Leverkusen – 1899 Hoffenheim

Leverkusen welcome the current table toppers to the Bay-Arena on Saturday looking to build upon their well deserved win last weekend against VfB Stuttgart.

The Werkself recovered well from their opening home defeat to Dortmund to beat the Swabians and will want to give their home fans something to smile about by beating new boys Hoffenheim.  A home win is long overdue for Bayer having lost their last three at the Bay-Arena.

Hoffenheim on the other hand will want to continue their good start to the season and show that it is no flash in the pan that they are top of the season.  Consecutive wins against Cottbus and Mönchengladbach see them as the only side with a 100% record and with no goals conceded.

Summer signing Wellington could be set for his first start after recovering from a muscle tear.  He may however have to settle for a place on the bench after Demba Ba and Vedad Ibisevic’s great start to the season.

Energie Cottbus – Borussia Dortmund

Cottbus took the metaphorical bus to Hannover last week and parked it in front of their goal, but at home to Dortmund they will have to play more offensively as they look to secure their first home win of the season.

Last season was a constant battle against relegation for the Lausitzer and trainer Bojan Prasnikar will want to get points on the board early in the season in order to take the pressure off his side.

Dortmund have made a positive start to the new season under Jürgen Klopp and held Bayern to a point last weekend.  They will however be feeling they could have caused a bigger shock by taking all three points.

New signing Young-Pyo Lee may have to settle for a place on the bench, while midfielder Tinga is still a little way off returning from injury.

Arminia Bielefeld – Hamburg

Two successive draws have started off Bielefeld’s season and they will be looking to grab their first three points with the visit of Hamburg.  The omens/ stats however are not good as Bielefeld have only taken one point from their last four home games against Hamburg.

Defender Michael Lamey is a doubt with a virus infection.  If he does miss out, then trainer Michael Frontzeck has two options.  Either Bollmann moves to right back with Herzig coming into the team, or Kirch goes in at right back and Tesche starts in midfield.

Martin Jol will be looking to maintain HSV’s decent start to the season with an away win against Bielefeld.  New signings Marcel Jansen and Mladen Petric could be set to make their debuts, while Bastian Reinhardt could be set to return after injury.

Borussia Mönchengladbach – Werder Bremen

Last season’s second division champions have had a tough start to life in the top flight and Jos Luhukay’s side have yet to secure any points.  Life however doesn’t get any easier with Werder Bremen their visitors this weekend.

Successive losses against Stuttgart and Hoffenheim has seen the Fohlen as the only side without a point- they will be looking to rectify that on Saturday.

Werder will welcome back Brazilian maestro Diego back from the Olympics and he should go straight back into the side.  Despite a good performance last week against Schalke, Mesut Özil looks set to move down to the bench.

Bayern Munich – Hertha Berlin

The first Sunday fixture sees Bayern Munich hosting Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Arena in a repeat of Bayern’s final match of last season.  That afternoon was quite a party for the Bavarians, and they will be hoping to be celebrating their first win of the season this weekend.

After two consecutive draws, Bayern need a win to keep the critics off their backs.  Martin Demichelis is poised to return to the heart of the Bayern defence, whereas Lukas Podolski will be hoping for his first start of the season in attack alongside Luca Toni.

Van Bommel is suspended following his red card last week and will be replaced by Tim Borowski.  Franck Ribéry is still out injured as is Hamit Altintop.  New signing Massimo Oddo is not in contention.

Hertha will be looking to throw a spanner in the works at the Allianz Arena after their midweek Uefa Cup win.

VfB Stuttgart – Hannover

Stuttgart suffered their first defeat of the season last week when beaten 2-0 by Leverkusen and will want to make an immediate to winning ways at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

The Swabians will want to put last week’s home defeat to Leverkusen behind them.  Their 4-1 midweek win over Györ in the Uefa Cup will surely give them a boost.

Cacau, Magnin and Sami Khedira are unavailable through injury.

Hannover have started this season with a loss and a draw, and will be looking to go one better with a win this weekend.  After a poor start, Eggimann and Mikael Forssell could be set to earn their first starts.

source: goal.com