Berlin (dpa) – With the game RB Leipzig against 1. FC Köln, the 22nd matchday of the Bundesliga will open on Friday.
The following games are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday:
Eintracht Frankfurt – VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Both teams ended a long dry spell in sport with victories last week. Frankfurt had previously failed in three league games, Wolfsburg even nine.
Personal: Eintracht has to do without defender Hasebe and striker Ache. At Wolfsburg, Nmecha could be part of the squad again for the first time this year.
Statistics: The two teams have met 39 times in the Bundesliga so far. The record speaks clearly for VfL, who won 19 games and lost only eight.
special: Eintracht coach Glasner has worked successfully in Wolfsburg for the past two years and led Lower Saxony to the Champions League last season. For him it was “not a game like any other”, emphasized the Austrian.
Borussia Mönchengladbach – FC Augsburg (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: After four home defeats in a row, Mönchengladbach urgently needs a threesome in the relegation battle, Augsburg wants to keep scoring after the success against Union Berlin and leave the relegation place.
Personal: Captain Stindl is still missing from the hosts, Kramer’s role is open. The former Gladbacher Strobl is missing from the Augsburg team.
Statistics: Borussia have not won the last three games against Augsburg. In Mönchengladbach, Augsburg have been without a win for six games.
special: More than six years ago, Gladbach ended a negative series in the league against FCA. In the 4:2 win, Borussia was already 4:0 up after 21 minutes.
SC Freiburg – FSV Mainz 05 (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: After a mixed start to the second half of the season, Freiburg wants to underpin its European Cup ambitions with a win. Mainz is safe in the middle of the table, but struggles away from home.
Personal: Defender Keven Schlotterbeck is missing from the sports club after a positive corona test. The FSV has to do without St. Juste, the defender is operated on the shoulder.
Statistics: The guests have lost five times in a row away from home and have been waiting for a win abroad since the end of October. However, they have won against no other team more often than against Freiburg.
special: Mainz goalkeeper Zentner has not conceded a goal eight times this season. His opposite number Flekken kept his box clean seven times, as did Neuer from FC Bayern.
VfL Bochum – FC Bayern Munich (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: With a nine-point lead on the last day of the game, Bayern have again made a preliminary decision in the title race. In eleventh place, VfL is still staying away from the relegation zone, but is only three points ahead of 16th place.
Personal: Both are missing their regular goalkeepers: VfL’s Riemann, who was born in Upper Bavaria, Munich’s Neuer, who was born in Bochum’s neighboring town of Gelsenkirchen.
Statistics: In the cup and in the league, Bochum suffered eight home defeats in a row against Bayern. The last win came on February 14, 2004, when Madsen secured a 1-0 win for Neururer-trained VfL.
special: In the 0:7 in the first leg, VfL conceded the heaviest defeat in their Bundesliga history.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth – Hertha BSC (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Last light Fürth has only ten points after 21 games, one more than the later relegated Schalke last season. Hertha is still without a win in 2022.
Statistics: Tor flood in the Ronhof? Fürth (56 goals conceded) and Hertha (43) are the weakest defenses this season.
Personal: The Swedish winter access Linde could replace Burchert in the Fürther Tor and make his Bundesliga debut. Hertha are missing three central defenders in Captain Boyata, Dardai and Kempf.
Especially: The people of Fürth are still waiting for their first home win in the Bundesliga in front of fans. The 1-0 win against Union Berlin and the 2-1 win against Mainz were both ghost games. Almost 9,000 spectators are allowed to go to the Ronhof again against Hertha.
Bayer Leverkusen – VfB Stuttgart (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.)
Situation: As the best team in 2022, Bayer has consolidated third place with ten points from four games. As the penultimate and worst team in the second half of the season, VfB is already four points behind the relegation place.
Personal: At Bayer, goalkeeper Hradecky is fit again after the corona quarantine, but central defender Kossounou is missing. VfB are missing the ailing striker Kalajdzic as well as defender Anton and offensive player Marmoush after positive corona tests.
Statistics: Stuttgart is kind of a favorite opponent of Bayer. The Werkself have only lost one of their last 20 duels, 1-0 at home almost four years ago.
special: For the first time in its Bundesliga history, Leverkusen have scored five goals in two consecutive games: 5-1 against Augsburg and 5-2 in Dortmund.
1. FC Union Berlin – Borussia Dortmund (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Both teams lost the last game after having previous small winning streaks. Union lost 2-0 in Augsburg, but remained fourth. Second in the table, BVB lost 5-2 at home to Leverkusen.
Personal: BVB will probably have to do without the ailing Haaland, Meunier and Wolf, while Hummels could be back in the starting XI. In addition to the yellow suspended Khedira, the Köpenickers are also missing Gießelmann, Heintz and Voglsammer after positive corona tests.
Statistics: The previous five Bundesliga games between Union and Dortmund ended with home wins. BVB won three times, Union twice.
special: Union’s first Bundesliga win after promotion in 2019 was against BVB (3-1). In the stadium An der Alten Försterei it can get much fuller than last time. 10,000 spectators are allowed.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – Arminia Bielefeld (Sunday, 5.30 p.m.)
Situation: Hoffenheim has lost four Bundesliga games in a row and thus lost ground in the fight for an international starting place. Bielefeld, on the other hand, has been undefeated in the league for six games.
Personal: TSG is missing six players, including Kramaric, who is suffering from Corona again. Arminia has to do without the last strong Wimmer (yellow lock).
Statistics: The two teams have only faced each other five times in the Bundesliga. There were two wins for Hoffenheim and three draws.
special: Bielefeld coach Frank Kramer is returning to Hoffenheim for the first time in nine years in the Bundesliga, where he worked from 2011 to 2013 with the youth team and in December 2012 was interim coach for the first team for two Bundesliga games.
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