Bundesliga - Round 6 Preview

Friday SEPTEMBER 16	KO	Saturday SEPTEMBER 17	KO
Freiburg - Stuttgart	2030	Bayer Leverkusen - Koln	1530
		Hamburg - Borussia M'gladbach	1530
		Hertha Berlin - Augsburg	1530
		Nurnberg - Werder Bremen	1530
		Hoffenheim - Wolfsburg	1530
		Kaiserslautern - Mainz	1830
		Sunday SEPTEMBER 18	KO
		Hannover - Borussia Dortmund	1530
all kick-off in CET		Schalke - Bayern Munich	1730

Freiburg

vs

Stuttgart

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Baumann Mujdza, Barth, Krmas, Bastians Flum, Schuster Reisinger, Makiadi, Jendrisek Cisse		Ulreich Boulahrouz, Tasci, Maza, Molinaro Kvist, Kuzmanovic Harnik, Gentner, Okazaki Cacau
TEAM NEWS
Freiburg currently share the worst defensive record in Germany with Hamburg, with 16 goals conceded The Breisgau have won and drawn each just once in their last eight matches in all competitions Freiburg's 7-0 collapse to Bayern last week was their worst ever Bundesliga result		Tamas Hajnal is doubtful for the Swabians and will likely be replaced by Christian Gentner Stuttgart boast the joint-second-best defensive record in the Bundesliga The Swabians have not conceded more than one goal in any of their five matches this season

Bayer Leverkusen

vs

Koln

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Leno Balitsch, Reinartz, Toprak, Castro Bender, Rolfes Renato Augusto, Ballack, Schurrle Derdiyok		Rensing Riether, Sereno, Geromel, Jemal Lanig, Jajalo Chihi, Peszko Novakovic, Podolski
TEAM NEWS
Michael Ballack is tipped to start in attacking midfield, but Sidney Sam could be a tactical inclusion in his stead Leverkusen have kept three clean sheets this season B04 are unbeaten in their last nine home games		Koln have won just one of their games this season It has been 15 years since "Effzeh" last beat Leverkusen Loanee Ammar Jemal is expected to make his first Bundesliga start at left-back

Hamburg

vs

Borussia M'gladbach

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Drobny Mancienne, Rajkovic, Westermann, Aogo Jarolim, Tesche Tore, Skjelbred, Jansen Petric		Ter Stegen Jantschke, Brouwers, Dante, Daems Nordtveit, Neustadter Reus, Arango Hanke, De Camargo
TEAM NEWS
It is currently uncertain whether Gokhan Tore or Heung-Min Son will return to Michael Oenning's starting XI Hamburg are winless in 12 consecutive Bundesliga games HSV have conceded 16 goals so far this season, a joint-league worst		Gladbach have won just once in their last 13 matches away to Hamburg There are three uncertainties in the Foals' squad: Igor de Camargo, Havard Nordtveit, and Roel Brouwers Borussia have conceded no more than one goal in each of their last 15 Bundesliga matches

Hertha Berlin

vs

Augsburg

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Kraft Lell, Hubnik, Mijatovic, Kobiashvili Ottl, Niemeyer Ebert, Raffael Ramos, Lasogga		Jentsch Hosogai, Sankoh, De Roeck, Davids Callsen-Bracker, Sinkala Werner, Baier, Bellinghausen Molders
TEAM NEWS
Hertha have won just one of their last 18 home games in the 1. Bundesliga The Berlin club are unbeaten in their last four Bundesliga games The last two meetings between Hertha and Augsburg have resulted in five red cards		Augsburg are yet to win a game since their promotion to the German first division Top scorer Sascha Molders has gone 351 minutes since scoring FCA have won only one of their last nine 1. and 2. Bundesliga games

Nurnberg

vs

Werder Bremen

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Stephan Chandler, Wollscheid, Klose, Pinola Simons Hegeler, Feulner, Cohen, Esswein Eigler		Wiese Sokratis, Prodl, Wolf, Schmitz Fritz, Bargfrede, Hunt Marin Arnautovic, Pizarro
TEAM NEWS
Centre-forward Tomas Pekhart is suspended following his sending off last weekend, and will be replaced by Christian Eigler Youngster Julian Weissmeier could start for the Club, with Almog Cohen the more likely to be replaced Nurnberg have scored no more than one goal in each of their last five home matches in the Bundesliga		Thomas Schaaf's men have lost only twice in their last 11 games away to Nurnberg Bremen have not kept a clean sheet in their last 11 Bundesliga matches away from home The Hanseatic club have lost only once in their last eight games against Nurnberg

Hoffenheim

vs

Wolfsburg

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Starke Beck, Vorsah, Compper, Braafheid Rudy, Kaiser Obasi, Firmino, Babel Mlapa		Hitz Hasebe, Kyrgiakos, Madlung, Schafer Trasch, Josue Ochs, Mandzukic, Jonsson Lakic
TEAM NEWS
With several of Hoffe's midfielders sidelined, Dominik Kaiser is expected to make just his second Bundesliga appearance Having conceded just twice in their last four games, 1899 have kept three clean sheets Hoffenheim have won three of their last four games, overall, but lost three of their last four at home		Mario Mandzukic has either scored or assisted each of Wolfsburg's last four goals Felix Magath's side have won four of their last five matches against Hoffenheim Wolfsburg's win over Schalke last week snapped a three-game losing streak

Kaiserslautern

vs

Mainz

PROBABLE LINE-UPS
Trapp Dick, Amedick, Rodnei, Jessen Fortuonis, Kirch, Tiffert, Sahan Sukuta-Pasu Shechter		Muller Bungert, Svensson, Noveski, Pospech Polanski, Kirchoff, Soto Ivanschitz Risse, Allagui
TEAM NEWS
There is a question mark over whether Richard Sukuta-Pasu will be used in a forward role; Gil Vermouth is a potential stand-in Kaiserslautern have yet to win in the Bundesliga this season Latuern have only scored twice in their five league games		Long-term casualty Adam Szalai is the only man missing from Thomas Tuchel's squad Mainz are unbeaten in their last six matches against Kaiserslautern The "Oh Fives" have lost just once in their last eight away matches in the Bundesliga

Hannover

vs

Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund head to Hannover under-staffed this Sunday, with Mario Gotze and Sebastian Kehl suspended, and Sven Bender and Lucas Barrios sidelined with injuries. The hosts will not have it easy, however, given that they are on short rest, having played in the Europa League on Thursday.

Schalke

vs

Bayern Munich

Manuel Neuer returns to Gelsenkirchen to face his former club for the first time in what is the headline match of the round. In a complete turnaround relative to recent history between the clubs, Schalke are now more adept in attack than defence, while it is Bayern's strength at the back that has propelled them into first place in the Bundesliga.