By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The action continues apace on Matchday 4 of the 2025-26 Bundesliga season, with FC Bayern München’s trip to TSG Hoffenheim and the Rhine Derby between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach two of the most eye-catching fixtures on what promises to be an enthralling weekend.
Reigning champions FC Bayern have come unstuck in Sinsheim on more than one occasion in recent years, losing 4-1 in 2020-21 and 4-2 on the final day of the 2023-24 campaign.
Vincent Kompany’s team made light work of Hoffenheim last term, however, winning 5-0 at home and 4-0 away. With Harry Kane, Luis Díaz and Co. in scintillating form, the record title-holders will take some stopping.
Just two points adrift of Bayern, FC St. Pauli raise the curtain at VfB Stuttgart on Friday. The Kiezkicker’s confidence could hardly be higher, having avoided defeat in the first three games of a Bundesliga season for the first time in their history.
Key to the Hamburg outfit’s fine start has been Andréas Hountondji, who became the first St. Pauli player to score in each of the club’s first three games of a top-flight campaign, including their 2-1 win over Augsburg.
Like St. Pauli, 1. FC Köln have defied expectations to find themselves third in the table –just above the Kiezkicker on goal difference. Jakub Kamiński preserved the Billy Goats’ unbeaten start with a 104th-minute equaliser at VfL Wolfsburg on Matchday 3 – the latest goal in Bundesliga history.
Another positive result at RB Leipzig, who have responded to their Matchday 1 loss at Bayern with back-to-back victories, would come as no surprise.
Three of Germany’s four UEFA Champions League participants are in action on Sunday afternoon.
First up are Eintracht Frankfurt, who will be eager to bounce back from a first defeat of the season at Leverkusen last Friday.
The Eagles’ home clash with FC Union Berlin is followed by the small matter of the first Rhine Derby of the campaign, as Leverkusen host struggling Gladbach, who dismissed head coach Gerardo Seoane on Monday.
Victory over Frankfurt in Kasper Hjulmand’s first game in charge has lifted the mood in Leverkusen, who will be confident of dispatching a Foals side who, apart from Hamburger SV, are the only Bundesliga team yet to find the net in the league this term.
The division’s other Borussia – Dortmund – are faring much better, winning two and drawing the other of their three league games.
The odds are stacked heavily in their favour on Sunday, with opponents Wolfsburg winning only one of their past 20 league meetings with BVB. Striker Serhou Guirassy has flown out of the traps too, netting four goals in his three top-flight appearances so far and in eight straight league games across seasons.
However, as one of only five teams with their unbeaten league record still intact, the Wolves are unlikely to go down without a fight at Signal Iduna Park.