By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Bundesliga returns after the international break and a chance for league leaders FC Bayern München to pull further away from the chasing pack when they host fellow Bavarian side FC Augsburg on Friday evening.
Vincent Kompany’s Bayern are on a blistering run of Bundesliga form with four successive wins in which they have scored 13 goals and conceded none. It would be a major shock if 13th-placed Augsburg were to claim a result of any kind at the Allianz Arena, but they are equally in need of points from this local derby after earning just four from the last four games.
The chasing pack are all in action on Saturday. Champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen, runnersup VfB Stuttgart and UEFA Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund are all at home in the afternoon, although none can take three points for granted.
Leverkusen are without a win in three in all competitions going into their encounter with 1. FC Heidenheim 1846. Frank Schmidt’s side will be looking to restore their reputation as plucky underdogs in that after a winless run of five league matches.
Stuttgart host a VfL Bochum 1848 side that may be bottom of the table with just two points but are infused with a new sense of optimism after holding Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw in their last match before the international break, which was also the first under new coach Dieter Hecking.
Dortmund boast a 100 percent home record so far this season but go into an encounter with SC Freiburg two spots behind the visitors in the table in seventh after Julian Schuster’s fine start in Freiburg as Christian Streich’s successor. Two goalless draws in a row show that the Black Forest boys certainly should be difficult to beat.
Second-placed RB Leipzig also face a testing Saturday afternoon clash away at TSG Hoffenheim. After a 2-1 defeat at Dortmund and 0-0 draw at home to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Leipzig will be determined to land a win to stay within distance of Bayern, with the gap at the top being five points going into Matchday 11.
Hoffenheim may be down in 15th currently but will be counting on a boost from a new coach after Pellegrino Matarazzo was replaced by Christian Ilzer, who showed his pedigree by leading Sturm Graz to an Austrian double last season.
1. FC Union Berlin have certainly been thriving under a new coach this season, with Bo Svensson leading the side from the German capital up to sixth in the table with a series of battling performances. A trip to VfL Wolfsburg will be seen as winnable, although the Wolves will also be eying the chance to take their first home victory of the campaign.
The Saturday evening clash sees one of the stories of the season, Eintracht Frankfurt, host SV Werder Bremen. Eintracht’s Egyptian striker Omar Marmoush continues to amaze – converting three direct free-kicks in three matches in all competitions before the international break and tying Harry Kane in the top goalscorers’ race with 11 strikes already.
Bremen are certainly not to be taken lightly though, with three wins in their five away matches so far this season leading Ole Werner’s side to eighth in the table.
Werder beat Holstein Kiel 2-1 in their last match before the international break, and newly promoted Kiel will aim for their second Bundesliga win when they host 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the first match on Sunday. The visitors are on a three-match unbeaten run and claimed a 3-1 win over Dortmund in their last fixture, however.
Fellow promoted side FC St. Pauli are one position above Kiel currently in 16th but do have two wins already to their name this season. They visit Mönchengladbach in the final encounter of Matchday 11 on Sunday, with the 0-0 draw in Leipzig being Gladbach’s fourth game in succession without defeat – leaving them just inside the top half of the table in ninth.