With a little delay, Manuel Neuer wants to celebrate a very special anniversary in his guest appearance at Eintracht Frankfurt. Borussia Mönchengladbach has to face the fear of finishing at the bottom, in the top game the focus is on the offensive. At the same time, there is a risk of lean food on matchday 14.
Top games, basement duels and the return of Bayern and Union Berlin to day-to-day Bundesliga business: there’s a lot on offer again on matchday 14. imago images (3)
Bochum’s series and Hoffenheim’s lowest value
VfL is on a bit of a run and will now be particularly happy Friday evening to be able to compete in Hoffenheim. Bochum goes into the matchday with five games without a defeat, the longest streak since being promoted again in 2021. In addition, VfL does not score more goals per game on average against any other current Bundesliga team than against TSG (2.13), which has been in the last four Waiting for a sense of achievement in the games (2 defeats, 2 draws) and have only collected four points at home – the lowest in the league.
Bayern versus Frankfurt: Opposite trends
Due to the weather, FC Bayern Munich and Union Berlin were forced to play without a game last weekend, the reason being the snow chaos in the Bavarian capital. Now Manuel wants Neuer on Saturday afternoon celebrate the 250th victory in the Bayern jersey with a little delay – only Oliver Kahn (260) and Thomas Müller (326) won more often at the club. Traditionally, however, Frankfurt is not an easy place for the record champions; in the Main metropolis there are 16 wins and 20 defeats. Of course, Bayern are still the clear favorites, they have all won the last six Bundesliga games with a goal difference of 23:3. At Frankfurt the trend is going in the other direction; for the first time in a year and a half, Eintracht has lost two games in a row.
Union’s hope and Gladbach’s record course
On the sofa in a snow-covered hotel room, Union Berlin suffered its fall to last place in the table last weekend. But this is likely to cause tremors, especially among the next opponent. For the fourth time this season, Gladbach is facing a bottom team, there were a meager three draws and one defeat – and the bottom team gave up the red lantern each time. Good news for the Iron Men, who already have a good record against Borussia with four wins in a row (overall: 5W/2D/1L). Given these numbers, the Foals should be happy about a draw, and twice as much. It would be draw number 496 in the Bundesliga and therefore a new record.
Wolfsburg had little hope of offensive fireworks
At home, yuck, away, yuck. This is how VfL Wolfsburg’s season can be summed up so far, collecting 13 points in front of their own crowd and only three away from home – no other club has a greater discrepancy. How good that the Wolves are now hosting Freiburg – how stupid that three of the last four duels with the sports club were lost. The exception is the 6-0 win in the previous season, the biggest SCF defeat under coach Christian Streich. The fans in Wolfsburg shouldn’t expect any offensive fireworks this time. VfL have only created 56 chances this season – a negative value if you exclude Union with one less game. Freiburg have only scored five goals in seven games away from home.
Goal guarantee on the Weser?
There may be greater chances of scoring goals on the Weser, although this is not necessarily due to a strength of Werder Bremen, but rather to a weakness of FC Augsburg. FCA hasn’t kept a clean sheet in 20 away games, i.e. not for over a year. In September 2022, Augsburg won 1-0 – in Bremen, of all places. What also speaks for goals: After two draws in the first two duels between the two teams, 20 games followed that produced a winner (8 times Bremen, 12 times Augsburg). The North Germans urgently need a threesome again after four games without a win, the Fuggerstadt team are still unbeaten after six games under coach Jess Thorup.
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Climbers among themselves – and under pressure
No other duel between two current Bundesliga coaches has happened as often as this one – although never in the upper house. Frank Schmidt and Torsten Lieberknecht have already faced each other on the sidelines in 18 competitive games, and the Darmstadt coach has an advantage in the balance sheet (9W/4D/5L). Now the two promoted teams are aiming for important points in the relegation battle. The Lilies are under even more pressure, they haven’t won in six games and have only scored two goals in the last five games. Maybe the FCH can help, no club has caused more penalties so far this season (8).
Dortmund’s fortress and the RB scare
Pursuit duel on Saturday night: Borussia Dortmund fought their way to a draw against leaders Leverkusen last weekend and now wants to demonstrate their own strength at home again. There have been 18 wins and only one defeat from the last 22 Bundesliga home games. Leipzig got back on the road to success against Heidenheim, but now faces the RB horror par excellence. In ten duels, Marco Reus scored five goals and netted five times; no other player has scored as many points against the Saxons since their promotion. But if RB conquers the Dortmund fortress, Leipzig would celebrate victory number 21 in this calendar year and thus equal the club record from 2019.
Stuttgart against Leverkusen: The offensive in focus
The top game of the 14th matchday takes place on Sunday instead of when the third in the table receives the first. The focus is on the two offensives: Only FC Bayern has more goals (43), chances (126) and shots on goal (239) than Leverkusen (38/116/218) and Stuttgart (33/94/210). Of course, Serhou Guirassy (16 goals and 3 assists) regularly has a hand in the game for the Swabians; he has never been without a goal in a home game this season. However, VfB only won one of the last 22 duels with the Werkself. If Bayer 04 were to celebrate on Sunday too, they would have set a club record with their twelfth win in the first half of the season.
Lean food in the cellar duel?
After the top game it’s time for another relegation battle. Or also: after a (hopefully) offensive spectacle, now lean food? In the basement duel between Cologne and Mainz, the two weakest offensives and the two clubs with the weakest use of chances in the league meet. FC only generates a goal from 15.6 percent of its chances, compared to 21.2 percent for Mainz. In addition, both teams only achieved eight wins this calendar year, only Bremen has fewer of all year-round Bundesliga teams (7). After the success against Darmstadt, Cologne are at least going into the game with increased self-confidence, Mainz only conceded two goals and one defeat in four games under coach Jan Siewert.
2023-12-07 08:11:56
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