Bundesliga Matchday 16 Preview: The Midweek Matches

Time for Part two of the Hinrunde home stretch with the second set of midweek league matches this season. Dortmund extended their lead to nine points after Gladbach were held at Hoffenheim. Bayern are now level on points with the Foals, but still third on goal difference. RB Leipzig were impressive against Mainz and will fancy their chances at the Allianz. Welcome to Matchday 16.

BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH vs. FC NÜRNBERG (Tuesday at 11:30am CT, Fox Soccer Plus)

The Foals return home where they maintain a 100% record. However, they now have Bayern, Leipzig, and Frankfurt in the rear view mirror after a goalless draw at Hoffenheim. Raffael (collarbone) and Lars Stindl (ankle) are expected to miss the match due to injuries. Denis Zakaria does return from suspension.

Gladbach do have the best home record while Nürnberg have the worst away record with just two points away from the Max-Morlock-Stadion. The stats do not make for easier reading for Der Club as they have a -20 goal differential on the road and they will be up against the second most-prolific attack. Hanno Behrens should return to the fold after missing out on the loss to Wolfsburg.

FORTUNA DUSSELDORF vs. BORUSSIA DORTMUND (Tuesday at 1:30pm CT, FS1)

Fortuna’s 2-0 win over Freiburg got them off the bottom two. But at home, they have the most losses in the league with five. That’s not a good stat as Fortuna goes up against the league-leaders. 

BVB will be looking for their sixth ever seven-match winning streak in their history. All the previous five came under Jurgen Klopp. Christian Pulisic might see some playing time as Jacob Bruun Larsen is a doubt with a knee injury. The key will be not to look too far ahead to Gladbach at the weekend. 

HERTHA BERLIN vs. FC AUGSBURG (Tuesday at 1:30pm CT, FS2)

Pal Dardai will hope for a positive reaction after the Capital Club fell to Stuttgart last Saturday. 

Meanwhile, Thorgan Hazard and Alassane Plea both have eight goals each for Gladbach. Three second half goals against Stuttgart maintained the Foals’ 100% record at Borussia Park and second place standing. However, Gladbach have amassed just eight points away from Borussia Park and their last away match at Leipzig ended in defeat. Expect a goal fest in this one. The last ten matches between the sides have produced a total of 46 goals. 

VfL WOLFSBURG vs. VfB STUTTGART (Tuesday at 1:30pm CT, Fox Soccer Plus)

Wolfsburg are just one point from the European places after a 2-0 win against Nürnberg on Friday. That was their sixth win of the season which matched their entire total from last season. Yet, it has not been Home Sweet Home for the Wolves who have amassed just nine points at the Volkswagen Arena. 

Three wins from their last five, including last Saturday’s win over Hertha, have vaulted Stuttgart out of the bottom three. Mario Gomez ended a seven-match goalless run in the victory. If they want to keep moving up the table, they would have to go against their away form which is five defeats in their last six away from Mercedes-Benz Arena. 

FC SCHALKE 04 vs. BAYER LEVERKUSEN (Wednesday at 11:30am CT, Fox Soccer Plus)

The Royal Blues followed up a win over Lokomotiv Moscow in the UEFA Champions League with a 1-1 draw at Augsburg. Schalke are just three points clear of the bottom three and need to start climbing up the table starting by improving their home form as they have lost four of seven this year at the Veltins. 

Die Werkself themselves are just three clear of Schalke in the table after a defeat to Frankfurt on Sunday. They may have more of a shot in this one as the home team has failed to win the last seven matches between the two sides (five defeats, two draws). That said, they just have one point from their last three away matches. 

BAYERN MUNICH vs. RB LEIPZIG (Wednesday at 1:30pm CT, FS1)

Bayern are back in form after an easy win at Hannover 96 on Saturday. They have won three on the bounce in the league and are level on points with Gladbach for second place. Robert Lewandowski has scored three goals in his last two matches while Serge Gnabry has scored four in his last five. 

Also scoring four goals in his last five matches is Timo Werner. When Werner has scored, he has scored in braces. Only one of those braces, though, have come on the road and he has never scored in Munich against Bayern. RB Leipzig are unbeaten at home, but have amassed just eight points in seven matches away from Red Bull Arena and have scored just seven goals on the road.

FSV MAINZ 05 vs. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (Wednesday at 1:30pm, FS2)

Despite defeat in Leipzig, Mainz are still closer to the top six than the bottom three. However, they have won just once in their last six at the OPEL Arena and have a 0% record against teams competing in Europe. The flip side of that statistic is that Mainz has never lost at league home match to Frankfurt. 

Luka Jovic has been eclipsed by Dortmund’s Paco Alcacer atop the scoring table after scoring just once in his last four matches. His services will be required alongside Sebastien Haller and Ante Rebic. The former has nine goals and eight assists for far for the Eagles. While Frankfurt have never won a league match at Mainz, they have already beaten them twice by 3-0 counts at the Commerzbank Stadion in league play and in the DFB Pokal.

SV WERDER BREMEN vs. TSG 1899 HOFFENHEIM (Wednesday at 1:30pm CT, Fox Soccer Plus)

After opening the season with just one loss in their first eight matches, they have lost five of their last seven—including a 2-1 loss to Dortmund. And yes, Josh Sargent did not score against BVB. 

Hoffenheim are also on a rough patch being winless in their last four. Reiss Nelson may start in this one and he can score on the road. Four of his six goals have come away from the Rhein-Neckar Arena. 

SC FREIBURG vs. HANNOVER 96 (Wednesday at 1:30pm, Fox Soccer Matchpass)

SC Freiburg will look to bounce back from a 2-0 defeat to Fortuna. This was the same squad that stunned RB Leipzig, 3-0, at the Schwarzwald-Stadion. Which team is going to show up on Wednesday?

Hannover hopes it’s the former even though Freiburg have lost just once in their last seven at home. After the 4-0 loss to Bayern at home, Hannover sit at the bottom with just ten points from 14 games and four points from safety.