By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@FCBayernEN.
The Bundesliga has a stacked fixture list to kick off its December run of games on Matchday 13, during which league leaders FC Bayern München face a stern test of their excellent ongoing form in the shape of a trip to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
Vincent Kompany’s visitors remain undefeated in the top flight this season after late goals from Luis Díaz and Nicolas Jackson earned a 3-1 win over FC St. Pauli last time out, while Stuttgart were left stunned by defeat at Hamburger SV.
The hosts will be looking for a response, with a win over the defending champions able to potentially take them as high as third place. It will be tough going against Harry Kane & Co., however, who have only dropped points in a 2-2 draw with 1. FC Union Berlin on Matchday 10. And while Kane may not have found the back of the net against St. Pauli, the England captain remains the league’s top-scorer on 14 goals – six more than the next best player, Jonathan Burkardt (eight).
There are four more fixtures at the same time on Saturday afternoon, following on from Friday night’s opener between bottom side 1. FSV Mainz 05 and a resurgent Borussia Mönchengladbach, who are unbeaten in four league games.
Gladbach held second-place RB Leipzig on Matchday 11, and Die Roten Bullen now host fellow European hopefuls Eintracht Frankfurt in Saturday’s early evening game.
Leipzig have won all five of their home games so far this term, but that record will be put under scrutiny by a Frankfurt outfit who are unbeaten in their last six games – a run preserved by Michy Batshuayi’s successful 96th-minute penalty in the 1-1 draw with VfL Wolfsburg last weekend.
Two games on Sunday wrap up Matchday 13, starting with the return of the Nordderby to the Bundesliga after over seven years away. Hamburg’s Volkspark Stadion is the venue as SV Werder Bremen come to town for one of German football’s most played and exciting fixtures.
After that, Borussia Dortmund host TSG Hoffenheim in a clash of two form teams. Third-placed Dortmund are now just one point behind Leipzig thanks to their 2-1 win at Bayer 04 Leverkusen last time out, and coach Niko Kovač will be hoping his team can launch a full-scale title challenge by eating into Bayern’s lead at the top.
BVB have lost only once in the league this season – a 2-1 defeat in Munich – and it is just their Klassiker rivals who boast a better defence across the entire division. But fifth-placed Hoffenheim are within two points of BVB and will be confident of taking points from the Signal Iduna Park having gone six games without defeat.