Düsseldorf (dpa) – The 17th matchday of the Bundesliga starts on Friday at 8.30 p.m. with the match between FC Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg. The other encounters at a glance:
RB Leipzig – Arminia Bielefeld (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Leipzig needs points and goals in order to be able to go into the short winter break with confidence. The contact to the Champions League places should remain. Arminia also has to score, the gap to the relegation rank is four points.
Statistics: There were two Bundesliga games between Leipzig and Bielefeld. Last season RB won 2-1 and 1-0.
Personal: The Saxons are still missing Halstenberg, Olmo, Poulsen and Klostermann. In addition, after the Augsburg game, Laimer joined with an inner ligament tear in his left ankle. At Arminia, Klos should return to the starting XI.
Special: RB has scored 25 goals in the eight Bundesliga home games so far this season. Bielefeld, on the other hand, only conceded nine goals away from home.
Eintracht Frankfurt – FSV Mainz 05 (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Both teams are tied in the upper middle of the table and could go into the Christmas break if they win on a European cup.
Statistics: The Rhein-Main-Derby has taken place 26 times in the Bundesliga. Mainz celebrated nine wins. Eintracht achieved seven successes, six of them at home.
Personal: Eintracht has to forego the injured Hauge and Lenz as well as the suspended Tuta. In Mainz, Kohr, Lucoqui, St. Juste and Szalai are missing. The use of Onisiwo is questionable.
Special: Mainz has already scored 57 points in the calendar year. Only four teams were more successful, including Eintracht (67).
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – Borussia Mönchengladbach (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Hoffenheim has been unbeaten in five games and hibernates with a win on a Champions League place. Mönchengladbach is completely different: Borussia has lost the last four games and is only one point away from the relegation place.
Statistics: The two teams have met 26 times in the Bundesliga so far. TSG won nine duels, Borussia seven. Ten games ended in a draw.
Personal: Adams, Bicakcic, Bruun Larsen and Skov are still missing at Hoffenheim. The use of Akpoguma (Wade) is questionable, Kaderabek could start for him. Mönchengladbach has to do without national player Hofmann (knee surgery) and the suspended Koné.
Special: Hoffenheim is the favorite opponent of Gladbach coach Hütter. The Austrian had previously played six times against TSG with Eintracht Frankfurt – and scored six wins.
VfL Bochum – 1. FC Union Berlin (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: Bochum want to further improve their good home record of 14 points and consolidate their secure midfield position at halftime. The Köpenicker have only been able to win one away game in the league and have been waiting for a win for four games abroad.
Statistics: In the 2nd Bundesliga, the two clubs faced each other in 20 games. Union was only able to win two of the ten games in Bochum – the last time it was eight years ago.
Personal: Six Bochum professionals are missing, the use of Soares and Holtmann is questionable. The guests can make changes after the heavy load.
Special: The two teams will meet for the first time in the Bundesliga. It is the 940th pairing in Bundesliga history.
SpVgg Greuther Fürth – FC Augsburg (Saturday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: The tattered bottom, Fürth, is hoping for a second home win in a row, Augsburg want to reach the 20-point mark.
Statistics: Augsburg has been unbeaten against Fürth in seven competitive games.
Personal: The strikers Hrgota and Nielsen are likely to return to the starting line-up for the Franks after breaks, the FCA can plan with central defender Gouweleeuw after the expiry of the yellow card suspension.
Special: Tasmania Berlin put in 1965/66 the weakest first half of the Bundesliga history with only one win and one draw. The Fürth do not score, they draw level.
Hertha BSC – Borussia Dortmund (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.)
Situation: Hertha has been unbeaten in their own stadium for four games (two wins, two draws). Dortmund have scored ten out of 15 possible points from the last five Bundesliga games (three wins, one draw, one defeat).
Statistics: The numbers speak for the guests: Dortmund won the last five matches. Hertha has not won against BVB in eight games.
Personal: At Hertha, Klünter and goalkeeper Jarstein will definitely be out, at Jovetic (calf problems) and Serdar (knee bruise) the use is questionable.
Special: Nico Schulz was born in Berlin and started his Bundesliga career at Hertha. Brandt and Hazard can also do Hertha: They didn’t meet any other club in the Bundesliga as often as they did against Berlin (Brandt: six times, Hazard: eight times).
SC Freiburg – Bayer Leverkusen (Sunday, 3.30 p.m.)
Situation: The fifth in the table from Freiburg can win the first time in its history on a Champions League place. From the last six games, however, the Breisgauer managed only one victory. Leverkusen, currently third, has recently presented itself without luck and looks back on two bankruptcies and one draw from the last three competitive games.
Statistics: Leverkusen and Freiburg only separate two points in the table before the game. However, the Rhinelander conceded significantly more goals (26) than Freiburg, who conceded the best defense in the league with 15 goals.
Personal: Freiburg has to do without defender Gulde (muscle problems) again, at Leverkusen Diaby (yellow-red suspension) is out.
Special: With a win, Freiburg would have 29 points and should look forward to the second-best Bundesliga first half of the club’s history. In the 1994/95 season, the sports club – calculated on the basis of the three-point rule – scored 33 even more points.
1. FC Köln – VfB Stuttgart (Sunday, 5.30 p.m.)
Situation: Cologne can end the successful first half of the season with another home win with 25 points. After the 0: 5 against Bayern, the Stuttgart is threatened with a fall on the relegation place in the event of another defeat.
Personal: VfB are threatened with up to six failures and Nartey could return.
Statistics: Stuttgart has not lost in eleven games at 1. FC Köln for over 21 years. The last FC home win against VfB was in October 2000 (3-2). The 50th competitive game against VfB in front of their own audience is on Sunday for Cologne.
Special: FC managing director Wehrle is returning to his former club and may take on the post of chairman of the board there in the coming year.
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