1899 Hoffenheim - FSV Mainz 05
Mainz have won four of their five BL encounters with Hoffenheim, but lost this season's first meeting with 1899, 4-0.Hoffenheim have only won one of their nine BL games on a Friday (three draws, five defeats) so far.
Mainz, on the other hand, have won their last three league games on a Friday.
Hoffenheim's last five home games all ended in draws. Since winning promotion to the top flight in 2008 Hoffenheim have never gone six league games on home soil without a win.
Mainz are unbeaten in three league games (one win, two draws), but have enjoyed only one victory in their last nine games in all competitions (five draws, three defeats).
Thomas Tuchel's men have only enjoyed one victory away from home this term; when they won 2-1 at Freiburg back in August. Since that win Mainz have lost three and drawn six of their nine BL games on the road.
Hoffenheim have only recouped one point from losing positions this term - fewer than any other team in the league.
Mainz have taken the lead in as many games as second-placed Bayern this term (14), but have only managed to win five of these matches and have dropped a league-high 22 points from winning positions.
1899 have been given a league-high 49 yellow cards and 411 fouls (an average of nearly 20 fouls per game).
Mainz have netted each of their last five league goals before the 19th minute.
Hoffenheim have only netted two headed goals this term - a divisional league-low. Winter signing Srdjan Lakic was the player with the most headed goals to his name last campaign, though (six).
FC Kaiserslautern - Borussia Mönchengladbach
This will be the 80th BL meeting between Lautern and Gladbach. Only against Bayern (47) and Hamburg (39) have FCK suffered more defeats in the top flight than against Borussia (38), while Gladbach have only enjoyed more wins over Köln (43) than over Lautern in the Bundesliga (38).Gladbach have lost three and won only one of their last six matches against the Red Devils in all competitions; this coming when they beat Lautern 1-0 at home earlier this season.
Gladbach's last BL win at Fritz-Walter-Stadion came over 16 years ago when they beat the Red Devils 3-1 on the road in August 1995.
Only in one of their previous 44 BL campaigns have the Red Devils picked up fewer points after 21 games than they have this term (18) - in 2005-06 they had only accrued 17 points after the same number of games.
This game will see the team with the fewest goals conceded (Gladbach, 12) take on the team with the fewest goals scored (Lautern, 15).
Only four teams in BL history had netted fewer goals after 21 games than Lautern have this campaign (15). The last team that scored fewer than 15 goals 21 games into the season was Köln in 2001/02 (11 goals).
Only three teams in BL history had conceded fewer goals after 21 games than Gladbach have this term (12): Bremen 1987-88 (nine), Stuttgart 2003-04 (ten) and Bayern 2007-08 (11).
Lautern are winless in 11 BL games (seven draws, four defeats) - currently the longest run of its kind in the top flight. Their last win came over four months ago when they beat Freiburg 1-0.
Borussia have only lost one of their last 11 BL games (eight wins, two draws) and are unbeaten in their last five (four wins). Only leaders Dortmund (12) have won more points since the turn of the year than the Foals (ten).
Marco Reus has been directly involved in six of Borussia's nine league goals in 2012 (three goals, three assists).
FC Nürnberg - FC Köln
Nürnberg have won their last seven BL home games against Köln, conceding only three goals in the process.FCN have never won eight consecutive home games against a single opponent in the Bundesliga, however.
Köln's last win away at Nürnberg in the Bundesliga came over 21 years ago, when they enjoyed an emphatic 4-0 win over FCN.
Only bottom-placed Freiburg (12) have suffered more defeats this term than Nürnberg and Köln (11 each).
Nürnberg have currently gone longer without scoring than any other team in Bundesliga (275 minutes) -their longest goal drought since autumn 2010 (289 minutes).
Köln have only netted three goals in their last six league games.
FCN have only been awarded two penalties this term - both were conceded by Pedro Geromel and converted by Timmy Simons in this season's first meeting between Nürnberg and Köln.
Köln have by far attempted the fewest shots in the league - only 8.4 per game on average.
The Billy Goats will miss their arguably most important player in Lukas Podolski due to injury. The German international has netted 52% of Köln's league goals this term.
Köln midfielder Martin Lanig formerly plied his trade with Nürnberg, while current FCN players Jens Hegeler, Markus Feulner and Hanno Balitsch all had stints with the Billy Goats.
Bayer Leverkusen - FC Augsburg
This will be Augsburg's first competitive game at BayArena.All three previous competitive meetings between these two sides were played at Augsburg and have seen Bayer Leverkusen prevail (two times in the German Cup, once in the Bundesliga).
This season's first meeting of the two sides saw Hajime Hosogai open the scoring for FCA, but ended in a 4-1 win for Bayer (goals: Sidney Sam (two), Stefan Kießling and Eren Derdiyok).
With a victory over Augsburg, Bayer could become only the 11th team in the Bundesliga to break the 300 top-flight home win mark.
Bayer are without a win in three league games (two draws, one defeat) - their longest winless run since September 2010 (two draws, one defeat).
Augsburg have only taken two points from their last six BL games on the road. In total, FCA have only won one of their 11 BL away matches this term when they beat Mainz 2-1 in October.
No team has conceded more goals following set-piece situations than Augsburg (15, like Freiburg). Six of the last seven goals that FCA have shipped have come from dead-ball situations.
Bayer only attempted three shots in their 1-0 defeat at Dortmund last weekend - fewer than in any other BL game since 2004/05.
FCA defender Jan-Ingwer Callsen Bracker was under contract to Leverkusen between 2004 and 2008, making 36 BL appearances for Bayer (two goals), while Leverkusen-born FCA centre-back Dominik Reinhardt played for Bayer's youth teams.
FCA defender Sebastian Langkamp currently has the best duel rate in the league, having won 72% of his challenges this term.
Hamburger SV - Werder Bremen
This will be the 96th BL meeting between the two sides - no other BL fixture has been played that often. Werder are slightly in front of HSV in the head-to-head record having won 32 of the previous 95 duels, while Hamburg only enjoyed 30 wins over Bremen in the Bundesliga (33 draws).Hamburg have won their last three BL home games against Bremen, but have lost their home games in the semi-finals of the German Cup (4-2 on penalties) and the semis of the UEFA Cup 2008/09 (3-2) against Werder during that period.
Hamburg have only lost one of their last 13 league games (five wins, seven draws).
Bremen have drawn each of their four league games since the turn of the year. The last time Werder drew four times on the bounce was back in 1998.
Thomas Schaaf's men have gone five BL games on the road without picking up a win (two draws, three defeats).
The Redshorts have only picked up 11 points from their 11 home games this term, but have taken 15 from their 10 games on the road and are the only side in the league apart from Hertha to have won more points on the road than on home soil.
Bremen have already recouped 17 points from losing positions this term - more than any other team in the Bundesliga.
Five of the last seven goals that Werder have conceded have came from headed shots. In total, Bremen have allowed their opponents nine headed goals this term - a joint league-high.
Claudio Pizarro has been directly involved in 20 of Werder's last 26 league goals (14 goals, six assists). The Peruvian striker has netted more goals against Hamburg than against any other team in the Bundesliga (14) and will be eligible again after missing Werder's last match due to suspension.
Hertha - Dortmund
In this season's first meeting between these two sides, newly promoted Hertha inflicted a shock defeat on Dortmund when they beat the reigning champions 2-1 on the road and leapfrogged them in the table. However, Dortmund are now 26 points and 14 places clear of the Berliners.The meeting with Dortmund will be the 1000th BL game for Hertha. Last week's 5-0 defeat at Stuttgart was the 500th away game for the Berlin-based side.
With only nine points from their 10 games at Olympiastadion this term so far, Hertha are bottom of the BL home form table. They have only won two of their last 26 top-flight games on home soil (nine draws, 15 defeats).
Dortmund, on the other hand, have won more points on the road this term than any other team in the league (21).
This game will see the worst BL side of 2012 take on the best side since the turn of the year. While Hertha have lost all their four league games since Jan 1st, scoring only one goal in the process, Dortmund have won all their four league games in 2012, conceding only two goals in the process.
Jürgen Klopp's men have gone 15 games without defeat (12 wins, three draws) - currently the longest unbeaten run in the top-three tiers of German football.
Whenever Dortmund have picked up more than 45 points from their first 21 games of a BL season they have ended up winning the league (2011, 2002 and 1995).
Hertha's caretaker manager Rene Tretschok plied his trade with Borussia Dortmund between 1992 and 1997, winning two BL titles (1995, 1996) as well as the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup (1997) with the Yellow-Blacks.
Borussia midfielder Shinji Kagawa has netted four goals in his last four appearances in all competitions.
Midfielder Raffael has scored in each of Hertha's four league wins this term. The Berlin-based side haven't won a single BL game this campaign in which the Brazilian hasn't found the back of the net.
SC Freiburg - FC Bayern
Freiburg haven't won a competitive match against Bayern in over 16 years and have lost 17 of their last 20 encounters with the German record champions (three draws).In this season's first meeting, Bayern handed SCF their biggest-ever defeat in the Bundesliga (7-0).
Bayern have won each of their last 12 BL games against Freiburg. No team in the German top flight has ever won 13 straight BL games against a single opponent.
This game will see team with the most goals conceded (Freiburg, 47) take on the team with the most goals scored (Bayern, 49).
Freiburg have only won one of their last nine league games (four draws, four defeats).
Bayern have only enjoyed two wins in their last seven BL games on the road (two draws, three defeats), keeping only one clean sheet in the process.
At this point last season, Freiburg had accrued twice as many points as they have this term (34 opposed to 17).
Five of Bayern's six league goals in 2012 were scored following set-pieces. FCB have scored more goals following dead-ball situations than any other team in the league (18).
Only Freiburg, Hertha and Bremen (eight each) have netted more goals in the final 10 minutes of games this term than Bayern (seven).
FCB striker Mario Gomez has netted six goals in his four BL appearances against Freiburg, including a four goal haul in this season's first meeting of the two sides.
FC Schalke 04 - VfL Wolfsburg
The Wolves have only lost one of their last 10 BL games against Schalke (five wins, four draws), but lost the corresponding fixture last season 1-0 at Veltins-Arena.Wolfsburg won this season's first meeting with Schalke, 2-1, despite conceding first. It was the only game this season in which the Wolves recouped points from a losing position.
Schalke have lost none and won five of their last six BL home games, but were held to a 1-1 draw by Mainz in their last at Veltins-Arena.
The Wolves have only taken one point from their last nine BL games on the road. Felix Magath's men have failed to score more than one goal in any of these matches and shipped an average of three goals per away game during that period.
Schalke have netted more second-half goals than any other team in the league (32). The Royal Blues last seven league goals have all come after the interval.
Wolves manager Felix Magath has already fielded 36 different players this term - a new single-season BL record.
Schalke have the best chance conversion rate in the Bundesliga, scoring with 20.7% of their unblocked attempts.
No team has scored more goals from crosses (10), corners (seven, like Leverkusen), headers (eight, like Köln) and counter-attacks (11) than Schalke.
Petr Jiracek became this campaign's first winter signing to score a brace when he netted twice against Freiburg last weekend. The Czech only needed two shots for his two goals.
Wolves top-scorer Mario Mandzukic (eight goals) netted his last league goal in a 2-2 draw against Mainz in early December and has failed to score in his last five BL appearances.
Hannover - Stuttgart
Stuttgart have won three of their last four BL games against Hannover (one defeat). Each of the last five BL meetings between these two sides saw the home side prevail.Hannover have only lost one of their last seven BL home games against Stuttgart and have won their last two against the Swabians at AWD Arena.
In the corresponding fixture last season, the Reds beat Stuttgart 2-1 at AWD Arena. In the aftermath of that game Stuttgart sacked manager Jens Keller and replaced him with current VfB boss Bruno Labbadia.
Mirko Slomka's men are unbeaten in their last 11 BL home games (six wins, five draws) - only Gladbach have currently gone longer without defeat on home soil (14 games).
Hannover have won two and drawn six of their last eight league games despite failing to score more than one goal in any of those matches. Only reigning champions Dortmund are currently on a longer unbeaten run than the Reds (15 games).
The Reds have only allowed one goal since the turn of the year - a joint league-low with Gladbach.
Stuttgart have gone six away games without a win (two draws, four defeats) in the Bundesliga.
The Swabians are the only side outside the top four with a positive goal difference (+3).
VfB striker Martin Harnik scored his first BL hat-trick in the Swabians' 5-0 win over Hertha last weekend. The Stuttgart top scorer has already bagged 10 goals this term - one more than he previously managed in a single BL season. hh
Three players will miss this match due to red-card suspensions. Hannover will be without defender Pogatetz while Stuttgart will have to replace Molinaro and Delpierre.
This will be Hannover's 400th Bundesliga home games and their 800th in the German top-flight overall.
