Bundesliga Preview: Robben and Ribery's Return Set to Boost Bayern

Borussia Dortmund vs. Nürnberg

Borussia Dortmund were defeated in their last match against Hoffenheim in the most bizarre circumstances. They could not find a way past the home team's defence despite dominating throughout the match.

The defeat, though only their first of the season, has already resulted in a three-point gap at the top of the table—although coach Jürgen Klopp is unlikely to be concerned by it as the season has only just begun.

He will, however, be extremely happy about the performances of his team so far in the campaign.

Nürnberg started their Bundesliga campaign with a win but have since suffered two consecutive defeats, although the most recent one was in a friendly against Fenerbahce.

Nürnberg also has reason to be worried about facing a Borussia Dortmund side managed by Jürgen Klopp, as they have lost every single match to him without exception.

However, Borussia Dortmund will be without Lucas Barrios, while Nürnberg will likely give Markus Feulner the opportunity to play against his former side.

One has to go back to the early 90s to witness Nürnberg beating Borussia Dortmund at the Signal-Iduna-Park, which is likely to be a confidence booster for Dortmund, who are looking to come back from last weekend's defeat.

Bayern Munich vs Hamburger

After suffering the opening day defeat, Bayern Munich seem to be back to their old selves, registering two consecutive wins.

Even though the Champions League qualifier against Zurich was nothing more than a formality, Bayern Munich impressed in every area of the pitch. Bayern fans will also be extremely happy to see Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery on the pitch at the same time.

It was not surprising to learn that Robben was one of the key architects of the victory. His return to form is a major boost to Bayern Munich, who will be looking to inflict more misery on Hamburg.

Following their win over VfB Oldenburg in the DFB Pokal, Hamburg have failed to register a win in the league.

Michael Oenning saw his side take the lead twice against Hertha Berlin, only to see the lead surrendered twice. As a result, repeating the 2009 season (when Hamburg won against Bayern Munich at the Allianz-Arena) is the need of the hour for Hamburg.

Despite struggling with a lot of injuries, Michael Oenning does have the likes of Marcell Jansen and Tomas Rincon fit and ready to take on Bayern Munich.

Werder Bremen vs Freiburg

Werder Bremen looked to have started their season perfectly following the 2-0 win over Kaiserslautern, in which they dominated the match.

However, they looked extremely poor against Bayer Leverkusen last weekend, when they lost 1-0. Thomas Schaaf could not have hoped for a better team than Freiburg to face now.

Despite being quite reasonable last season, Freiburg have found the going extremely tough so far this season.

They are yet to register a win in a competitive match this season, a fact that is made even worse by the fact that they are set to face clubs like Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich in the next few fixtures.

Furthermore, their record against Werder Bremen is extremely poor, and they have lost their last six games against Werder Bremen.

However, they do have most of their influential players fit and ready for Werder Bremen, which could be a make-or-break match for their season. Werder Bremen will be without the services of players like Tim Borowski, Sebastian Boenisch and Onur Ayik.

Stuttgart vs Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen's disastrous start to the campaign came to an end with a win over Werder Bremen last weekend, and they will be keen to kick-start their season this weekend.

The next two matches are extremely crucial for Bayer Leverkusen, given that they will be facing both Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund in consecutive matches.

Away to Stuttgart will be the first of the two fixtures, and manager Robin Dutt will be quite happy to face them, given that Stuttgart manager Bruno Labbadia has never beaten Bayer Leverkusen.

However, Stuttgart have started their season in relatively good shape—unlike Leverkusen—although they could only draw in their most recent match against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Stuttgart will also be looking to get revenge on the team that did the double over them last season.

Bruno Labbadia will have quite a headache when it comes to picking his team, as most of his first-team players are injured.

Bayer Leverkusen are also suffering from injuries, with key personnel like Rene Adler still missing. The deputy goalkeeper for Rene Adler, Fabian Giefer, has also yet to recover from his injury, which will once again put enormous strain on Bernd Leno.