Bundesliga Preview: Nürnberg to Inflict More Misery on Bayern?

Bayern vs Nürnberg

After playing some scintillating football in the first few months of the season, Bayern Munich have finally shown signs of weakness. Their defeat to Hannover 96 last weekend was their first since getting beaten on the opening day of the season.

Still, Bayern Munich find themselves only three points ahead of second-place Borussia Dortmund. Hence, one can definitely say that the outstanding football that they have displayed in the first few months have been matched by other teams as well. The precursor to the defeat against Hannover has been coming of late. Discounting the win over Ingolstadt, Bayern have won just one of their last four fixtures.

They can, however, take heart from the fact that their opponents this weekend—Nürnberg—are struggling to get results themselves. In fact, their narrow win over Erzgebirge Aue in the DFB Pokal has been their first win in the last five matches.

Bayern definitely do have the quality to take advantage of such poor performances, but Jupp Heynckes will be keen to get a clean sheet more than anything else. Bayern definitely need three points from this fixture, as they prepare to face Borussia Dortmund in a few weeks time.

Schalke vs Hoffenheim

Even though Schalke have been suffering defeats with regular periodicity, they have been putting together a string of good results that have ensured that they still remain in contention for the title. It is quite amazing that Schalke are just four points behind Bayern Munich, despite the impressive form shown by the German giants.

An equally spectacular form has also been shown by Schalke's opponents this weekend—Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim have been able to maintain their top 10 position in the table, despite having won just two of their last five matches.

In a way, both teams have been very similar in terms of the results that they have been achieving over the course of this season. However, Schalke are easily the favourite team for this weekend to take all three points given their good form record this season. It would be daft to discount Hoffenheim, as the club do have a good record at the Veltins-Arena.

They have two wins from their last three visits. A win for Hoffenheim would put them in close contention with Schalke, while they also have an outside chance of snatching the title. At the worst, Hoffenheim will be looking for a Champions League spot given their start to the season.

Stuttgart vs Borussia Dortmund

Second placed Borussia Dortmund will be taking on fifth placed Stuttgart, but the two teams are separated by just two points, which is incredible at this stage of the season. Just when it seemed that no other team could catch Bayern Munich, teams like Borussia Dortmund have been handed a great chance.

Borussia Dortmund could go top of the table with a win over Stuttgart, as Bayern Munich also kick-off at the same time. Even though Borussia Dortmund are struggling in the Champions League, they are unwilling to relinquish their strong position in the Bundesliga.

It has been reflected in their strong performances over the last few weeks. They have just put together a four match-winning streak ahead of the match against Stuttgart. Stuttgart did not make a great start to the season, but they have made up for it by achieving some quite impressive results in recent weeks.

Even though they have recorded three wins out of the last five, it is going to be extremely difficult as they prepare to face a team that is high on confidence at the moment. Borussia Dortmund's record looks mightily impressive given that they have conceded just one goal in their last four matches.

Jan - Footybay.Com