FC Schalke 04 - VfB Stuttgart
In the Bundesliga, only Bayern Munich (40 times) have beaten Schalke more often than Stuttgart (39).
Schalke have won 26 Bundesliga home games against VfB, but no more than 22 against any other team.
Schalke have won ten and drawn two of their last 13 home games against Stuttgart in the league, with Stuttgart's sole victory a 2-1 win in May 2009.
VfB have won the last three opening Bundesliga matches at the start of the year, but suffered a 4-1 defeat at Schalke in their first Bundesliga game of 2008.
Schalke have won each of their last four home games, their best home run since (November/December 2010 - four home wins in a row).
Stuttgart have lost each of their last three away games. VfB have also failed to score in their last 220 minutes on the road.
VfB haven't won any of their last four league games (one draw, three defeats). This is their worst run since Bruno Labbadia took over.
If Raul scores, it will be the 400th competitive goal of his career (including goals for the national team).
Schalke's Timo Hildebrand, Ciprian Marica and sporting director Horst Heldt all played for Stuttgart while VfB midfielder Tamas Hajnal made his Bundesliga debut for Huub Stevens' Schalke in November 1999.
Raul (10) and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (15) have scored 25 goals combined this season while the entire Stuttgart team has managed just 23.
As a coach, Bruno Labbadia is still unbeaten in Bundesliga games against Schalke (four wins, two draws).
Arthur Boka could play his 100th Bundesliga game, Georg Niedermeier could play his 50th Bundesliga game and Martin Harnik could make his 50th Bundesliga appearance in a Stuttgart shirt.
1. FC Nürnberg - Hertha BSC
Nürnberg have won each of the last three games against Hertha, and five of the last six. Hertha's sole win in that period was a 1-0 victory in May 2008.
FCN won the first leg 1-0 away thanks to Tomas Pekhart's Bundesliga debut goal (80th minute). Pekhart is Nürnberg's top goalscorer so far with four strikes.
Nürnberg have won just one of their last six home games (three draws, 2 defeats). In the whole season, FCN have managed just two home wins, no other team has less (five other teams with two home wins).
The Berliners haven't won any of their last six league games (four draws, two defeats), but are unbeaten in four away games (one win, three draws). Hertha's last three away games have all ended in draws.
The game against Hertha will be Nürnberg's 1000th Bundesliga game (and their 500th at home). Nürnberg are the 13th team to reach 1000 games in the German top flight.
Hertha are playing their 996th Bundesliga game. The Berliners will reach the milestone against Borussia Dortmund on matchday 22.
Nürnberg have lost their first match of the year in each of their last three Bundesliga seasons, failing to score on each occasion. Hertha, however, have won their first game of the year in each of the last three seasons (including one season in the 2. Bundesliga).
Berlin goalkeeper Thomas Kraft lost his place in the Bayern goal last season after a blunder in the 1-1 away draw at Nürnberg.
Raffael has been involved in more goals (11, five goals and six assists) than any other Hertha player, but will miss the first three league games of 2011 with a suspension after being sent off. Nürnberg will be without Timothy Chandler (last game of his suspension) and Markus Feulner (one-game suspension for five yellow cards).
Hertha parted ways with head coach Markus Babbel in December and replaced him with Michael Skibbe, who had already managed Bundesliga sides Dortmund, Leverkusen and Frankfurt.
Nürnberg coach Dieter Hecking made his Bundesliga debut as a manager against Skibbe, losing 3-0 at Leverkusen in August 2006 (with Aachen).
SC Freiburg - FC Augsburg
Augsburg have won just one of 13 league games against Freiburg (Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and Bundesliga 2 South - four draws, eight defeats)..
FCA have lost all six away games in Freiburg, failing to score a single goal in 540 minutes.
Freiburg have failed to win any of their last six Bundesliga games (two draws, three defeats). Their last home win was a 1-0 victory over Mönchengladbach in October.
Freiburg have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last nine league games, the longest such run in the league at the moment. SCF have conceded eight goals in their last two games, more than in their six previous Bundesliga games (seven).
FCA have managed just one clean sheet away from home - in their only away win (1-0 at Mainz 05). Augsburg have failed to win any of their last four away games (one draw, three defeats).
Augsburg have failed to score a first-half goal in their last eleven games. The last ten Augsburg goals all came in the second half.
Augsburg have scored with headers just twice so far (only three teams less), but both of these came courtesy of Sascha Mölders in the 2-2 draw against Freiburg on the opening day.
Last season, Freiburg had 28 points at this stage - more than twice what they have now (13).
Christian Streich will make his debut as Freiburg manager. None of his three predecessors has managed to win his Bundesliga debut as Freiburg manager.
Papiss Cisse has been directly involved in 52% of Freiburg's goals this season (nine goals, two assists), but was sold to Newcastle United in the winter break. He was also the only striker not to miss a single minute of Bundesliga action in the first half of the season.
Augsburg's Sebastian Langkamp has won a Bundesliga-high 73% of his duels.
1899 Hoffenheim - Hannover 96
Hoffenheim have scored more Bundesliga goals against Hannover (15) than against any other team, while four wins against 96 are also joint-top for 1899 (also four against Gladbach and Frankfurt).
22 points from the first 17 games is Hoffenheim's worst ever start to a Bundesliga campaign, as is just 19 goals scored.
For the first time since Mirko Slomka took over, Hannover have failed to win any of their last seven league games (five draws, two defeats). Kaiserslautern are the only other Bundesliga team without a win in their last seven games.
1899 have won just one of their last seven games (three draws, three defeats), with the 2-0 victory at Nürnberg also their only clean sheet in that period.
Hoffenheim are the only Bundesliga team not to come back from a losing position at least once this season. They have gone behind in seven games, losing all of them.
Hannover have scored 55% of their goals from set-pieces while Hoffenheim have conceded 47% of their goals from dead-ball situations - both league-highs.
Hoffenheim have scored just seven goals after the break, Hannover (six) are the only team with a worse record.
Just four different players (Vedad Ibisevic, Roberto Firmino, Sejad Salihovic, Ryan Babel and one own goal) have scored for Hoffenheim this season, a league-low.
Chinedu Obasi (to Schalke) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (to Swansea) have left Hoffenheim on loan. Sigurdsson had been Hoffenheim's top-scorer in 2010/11, scoring nine goals.
Vedad Ibisevic has scored five of Hoffenheim's last seven goals and his next strike would be his 50th in the Bundesliga. He has scored against Hannover on one occasion before, a brace in a 5-2 away win in October 2008.
Marvin Compper and Isaac Vorsah are suspended after being sent off, whilst Vorsah and Hannover players Karim Haggui and Didier Ya Konan are at the African Cup of Nations.
VfL Wolfsburg - 1. FC Köln
Köln have won just three out of 17 Bundesliga games against Wolfsburg (five draws, nine defeats). They have lost 53% of all Bundesliga games against VfL, their second-worst record (54% against Gladbach).
Wolfsburg won the first leg 3-0 away thanks to goals from Patrick Helmes (2) and Marcel Schäfer. Helmes has not scored since.
VfL are unbeaten in three home games (two wins, one draw). Köln have failed to win any of their last five away games, losing four of them (with a 2-2 at VfB Stuttgart the exception).
Wolfsburg have lost nine of their first 17 league games this season, more than ever before in their Bundesliga history.
Freiburg (39 goals conceded) are the only team with a worse defence than Köln (35) and Wolfsburg (34) this term.
Wolfsburg have conceded more fouls than any other team (332), while Köln have picked up the most bookings (40). Both teams have had three players each sent off - only Bremen (4) have surpassed that.
Schäfer is the league's most attacking defender this season, he has been directly involved in seven goals (three strikes, four assists). Additionally he has won 65% of his duels, more than any other VfL player.
Lukas Podolski scored a personal record 14 goals in the first half of the season, making Köln more dependent on him than any other team in the league is on a single player (14 of 27 Köln goals, 52%). He also made four assists and was directly involved two thirds of FC's goals (18 of 27).
Köln defender Henrique Sereno is suspended after picking up five yellow cards.
Wolfsburg manager Felix Magath has already signed eight new players in the winter break and could still break his Bundesliga record from the 2009/10 season, when he signed nine new players for Schalke in January.
Magath has already fielded 30 different players this season and is set to break the Bundesliga record from the 2000/01 season, when he managed Eintracht Frankfurt (until January 28th 2001).
Magath's last defeat against 1. FC Köln was a 3-0 home defeat with VfB Stuttgart more than 10 years ago (March 2001), since then he has overseen seven wins and six draws against Köln.
1. FC Kaiserslautern - SV Werder Bremen
Kaiserslautern and Bremen have clashed in the Bundesliga 85 times, with 32 victories each and 21 draws.
FCK have won three of the last four Bundesliga games against Werder, but Bremen won the first leg 2-0 thanks to a Markus Rosenberg brace.
Kaiserslautern have managed two of their three wins this season in Saturday evening games, and they are unbeaten in their last five games on Saturday evenings (three wins, two draws).
Kaiserslautern managed just 13 goals in their first 17 games - their worst Bundesliga record ever at this stage.
Werder have conceded 14 goals in their last three away games, the first time since spring 1980 that this has happened (back then they conceded16 in three). Bremen have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 18 away games.
FCK have failed to win any of their last seven league games, a joint-high in the Bundesliga (with Hannover). Their last victory was a 1-0 win over Freiburg on matchday 10.
Bremen have managed to win a league-high 16 points from losing positions and have lost just two points from winning positions (only Bayern less, 0). Kaiserslautern haven't lost since November 2010 (a 3-1 defeat in Leverkusen) when they've taken the lead.
Claudio Pizarro has had a hand in 60% of Werder's 30 goals (twelve strikes, six assists). He has scored just one goal less than the entire FCK team (13).
Werder keeper Tim Wiese played 65 Bundesliga games for Lautern between 2002 and 2005 and has lost three out of four Bundesliga games against his former club since (one win).
Lautern's Christian Tiffert was the Bundesliga's best provider last season, managing 17 assists. He's still waiting for his first of the 2011/12 season, though!
Hamburger SV - Borussia Dortmund
Whenever Dortmund have been in first or second place after the first half of the season, they have always managed a top-3 finish (six times before).
Borussia are unbeaten in four games against Hamburg (three wins, one draw), but have managed just one point from their last five trips to HSV (four defeats).
Dortmund are unbeaten in a league-high eleven games, Hamburg are in second place with nine games unbeaten.
Dortmund haven't lost their first game of the season's second half since 2003/04 (five wins, two draws). Hamburg are unbeaten since 2005/06, winning their last three games.
HSV are still waiting for their first sold out home game in 2011/12. Last season, four of their last five home games were sell-outs.
This season, Hamburg have played five games against teams in the top 5 prior to the game - and lost all five.
Dortmund conceded twelve goals in the first 17 games. They have only managed a better record in two previous campaigns - 2001/02 and 2010/11 (ten) - and won the league in both seasons.
Hamburg manager Thorsten Fink was born in Dortmund and won the German U17 championship with Borussia in 1984. As a player, he was unbeaten in eleven Bundesliga games against Dortmund when he hung up his boots.
Jürgen Klopp took over at Dortmund in July 2008. Fink is Hamburg's eighth manager in that period!
Hamburg striker Paolo Guerrero has scored one goal in each of HSV's last four home games.
Robert Lewandowski has scored his last three goals on the road after bagging nine goals in a row solely in home games. The last Dortmund player to score more goals than Lewandowski (12) in the first half of the season was Manfred Burgsmüller 31 years ago (1980/81, 16).
