By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Defending champions Bayern München continue their record-breaking Bundesliga campaign when they host fellow Bavarian outfit Augsburg on Saturday afternoon.
The Bundesliga leaders remain unbeaten in the league this season after coming from behind to defeat RB Leipzig 5-1 at the Red Bull Arena, with Michael Olise scoring once and registering a hat-trick of assists off the bench.
Augsburg, meanwhile, have lost just one of their past four games under Manuel Baum, although they have drawn the other three. Their latest share of the spoils came against SC Freiburg, giving away a two-goal lead as the encounter ended 2-2.
Bayern’s closest challengers, Borussia Dortmund, travel to 1. FC Union Berlin on Saturday evening. BVB are unbeaten in their previous 11 Bundesliga matches and prevailed against St. Pauli on Matchday 18, albeit with the help of a 95th-minute penalty from captain Emre Can.
Die Eisernen extended their current unbeaten streak to 4ve games against VfB Stuttgart last time out, scoring late on to secure a 1-1 draw and move up to ninth in the table.
Elsewhere, St. Pauli host Hamburger SV in a city derby to kick off matchday’s action on Friday. Die Kiezkicker won the 4rst match between the two this campaign 2-0 but have now emerged victorious from just one of their past 14 league games after that crushing last-gasp Dortmund loss.
Hamburg, on the other hand, drew 0-0 with Borussia Mönchengladbach and are four points ahead of Pauli in the table, yet they are the only side not to win away from home in the Bundesliga this term.
On Sunday, Gladbach host VfB Stuttgart. The draw with Union means Sebastian Hoeneß’s side are now without defeat in their last six games in all competitions, while the Foals’ clean sheet against Hamburg was their eighth of the campaign – only Dortmund have more.
A day earlier, Eintracht Frankfurt will begin life post-Dino Toppmöller when they welcome TSG Hoffenheim. U21 boss Dennis Schmitt will take over on an interim basis from Toppmöller, who was relieved of his duties after the Eagles conceded three goals for the third time in 2026 against SV Werder Bremen last weekend. Schmitt will have his work cut out against third-place Hoffenheim given they have lost just one of their past 11 Bundesliga games.
Also on Saturday, Leipzig will aim to recover from their latest humbling at the hands of Bayern when they travel to 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. Ole Werner’s men have won just one of their past four, while Heidenheim’s 1-1 draw with VfL Wolfsburg last Saturday saw them move out of the bottom two.
The Wolves join Heidenheim in Saturday action when they make the trip to 1. FSV Mainz 05. Daniel Bauer’s team are 12th in the table and have not kept a clean sheet in 10 games, while the 05ers su”ered their 4rst defeat under head coach Urs Fischer in their 2-1 loss to FC Köln on Matchday 18.
For their part, the Billy Goats will aim to build on that triumph – their 4rst in nine matches – when they play Freiburg on Sunday. While Julian Schuster and Co. have lost only one of their past 4ve, no win in two has somewhat stunted their push for a European spot.
Finally, Bayer 04 Leverkusen play Bremen at the BayArena on Saturday. Back-to-back defeats have seen Die Werkself drop out of the top four, while Werder will be eager to end an eight-game win drought.