1. FSV Mainz 05 – Arminia Bielefeld (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Duels in the Bundesliga: The two teams have only met nine times in the Bundesliga. With 3:2 victories, Arminia is just ahead. Four games remained without a winner.
What else you should know: After the compulsory Corona break, Mainz suffered a 0-1 defeat in the catch-up game against Dortmund on Wednesday (after five home wins in a row). Against Bielefeld it should mainly depend on how far the strength is enough after the many Coran attacks and whether Bo Svensson’s team will find its rhythm again. Apart from that, Mainz’s home strength (27 points so far) speaks for a success for the 05ers. Arminia also lost the last three away games without scoring a goal.
Bayern Munich – 1. FC Union Berlin (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.)
Duels in the Bundesliga: Union has not yet managed to win against Bayern in five duels. After all, the Berliners have twice wrested a draw from the record champions. However, the Berliners lost the first leg 2:5.
What else you should know: Things didn’t go as planned for either team. Bayern’s comfortable lead over BVB has dwindled to four points after the last two draws. In addition, the champions have only scored one goal in each of their last three games. At Union, the trend is downwards – from the last six games, the Köpenickers have only scored four points – four games have been lost. Incidentally, for Manuel Neuer it is also about a Bundesliga record against Union. The goalkeeper would have 311 victories in the league in a three-pointer – no player has ever been able to record that many. So far he has shared first place with Oliver Kahn.
RB Leipzig – Eintracht Frankfurt (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.)
Duels in the Bundesliga: There were six draws in just eleven games between the two teams. The last three games each ended 1-1. Three wins for Leipzig and two for Frankfurt are also in the statistics.
What else you should know: Leipzig leads the second half of the table ahead of BVB, who have the same number of points (both 22 points). With 27 goals, RB was also the most accurate team. But things were going well again for Eintracht (two wins). In addition, Frankfurt has been successful away from home six times and is the third-strongest team on foreign pitches. For Eintracht there is a reunion in Leipzig with Andre Silva, who scored 28 goals for the Hessians last season. And the Portuguese has now scored against 16 of the 18 current Bundesliga teams. Only against Eintracht and against his current club has he not scored so far.
VfL Wolfsburg – Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday, 5.30 p.m.)
Duels in the Bundesliga: Leverkusen have won 22 times and Wolfsburg have 19 wins. Eight games in the football upper house ended without a winner. In the last three games, Leverkusen have not scored against Wolves (with two defeats).
What else you should know: Florian Kohfeldt made his debut for Wolfsburg in the first round game against Bayer – and VfL won 2-0. After an intermediate low with ten games without a win, the Kohfeldt-Elf collected ten points from the last six games – and first got some air. A look at the efficiency of the deals shows where the wolves are particularly lacking. The Wolves (29 goals) needed an average of 11.5 shots to score. That’s one of the worst numbers in the league.
1. FC Cologne – Borussia Dortmund (Sunday, 7.30 p.m.)
Duels in the Bundesliga: BVB celebrated 39 wins in 91 games against FC. 28 times the points went to Cologne. 24 times both teams separated with a draw.
What else you should know: With the victory in Mainz, BVB has moved up to four points behind Bayern. It is almost as important that Erling Haaland is fit again and has recently been substituted on twice. The Norwegian is apparently ready for the final sprint of the season. By matchday 20, he had scored 16 times in 14 appearances. By the way, with FC Dortmund meets an opponent who, like the second in the table, can rely on his jokers. Both teams have nine wildcard goals this season and lead this ranking together with Hoffenheim. In Leverkusen, Kingsley Schindler made the decision three minutes after coming on.