FC Augsburg v Borussia Dortmund
FCA lost 4-0 in this season's reverse meeting with Dortmund, the biggest-ever defeat for Augsburg in the Bundesliga.Dortmund have won their last eight league games on the bounce, a first in the club's BL history. The last league game in which they failed to take all three points was a 1-1 draw with Kaiserslautern in December.
The reigning champions are unbeaten in 18 BL games (W15, D3), currently the longest run of its kind in the German top flight. If Dortmund avoid defeat against Augsburg they would equal the club record of 19 unbeaten BL games on the bounce set in 1991/92.
Augsburg have won three and drawn two of their last five games on home soil, keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Borussia have gone nine BL games on the road without defeat (W7, D2), winning the last four away from Signal Iduna Park. If Dortmund avoid defeat away at Augsburg they would equal the club record of 10 unbeaten BL away games on the bounce set in 1995/96.
Table-toppers Dortmund are currently seven points clear of Bayern in second place. Only once in BL history has a team that led the league after at least 24 games thrown away a cushion of six points or more (Schalke were seven points clear of Stuttgart after 26 games in 2006/07).
Augsburg have conceded a league-high 11 headed goals while Dortmund have only shipped a league-low one goal from headers.
Dortmund's Polish trio of Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lu¬kasz Piszczek have been directly involved in 67% of Borussia's league goals this term (35 out of 52).
Sven Bender has the best-ever points-per-game average of all players with at least 50 BL appearances (2.28 points per game). His teammate Robert Lewandowski is a close second in that ranking (2.23).
BVB gaffer Jürgen Klopp has won all four league games against his counterpart Jos Luhukay and has seen his team score 12 and concede only once in those four meetings.
FC Bayern München v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
The last time Bayern failed to win the league in two consecutive years was back in the mid-nineties (1995 and 1996).Hoffenheim are winless against Bayern in the Bundesliga (D3, L4) and have lost each of their previous three outings in Munich, scoring only one and conceding eight in the process.
FCB have only won one of their last four games in all competitions (D1, L2).
The Munich-based side have won their last five games at the Allianz Arena and have not conceded in front of their home crowd in 398 minutes of BL football.
Hoffenheim are still unbeaten under their new manager Markus Babbel, but have drawn three of their four games since the former FCB player took charge of the club. In total, Hoffenheim are currently on a run of five unbeaten league games (W1, D4).
Bayern, who finished 2011 three points clear of Dortmund in first place, have picked up 10 points fewer than the reigning champions since the turn of the year.
Bayern have only conceded three goals in their 12 BL home games so far this term, no team in BL history has managed to concede fewer in their first 12 home games of a top-flight campaign.
If Bayern beat Hoffenheim they would enjoy their 900th win in the German top flight.
FCB top-scorer Mario Gomez has only netted one goal in his last five BL appearances. The German international has failed to find the back of the net in any of his last three league games and is without a goal in 380 minutes in all competitions.
1899 manager Markus Babbel is yet to record his first win against Bayern. The former FCB player has drawn two and lost three of his five meetings with the record champions in all competitions.
Werder Bremen v Hannover 96
Hannover won this season's reverse meeting with Werder 3-2 courtesy of a Mohammed Abdellaoue hat-trick. Werder striker Marko Arnautovic was sent off in that game.Hannover are unbeaten in three BL games against Werder (W2, D1), but have never gone four consecutive top-flight games against Bremen without defeat.
The Reds have only won one of their 23 BL outings at Bremen (D7, L15).
Werder won seven of their first eight BL home games this term (L1), but are currently on a run of three winless games at the Weserstadion (D2, L1).
The Reds have only lost one game in the league following a mid-week Europa League match (W4, D5) when they were beaten 3-1 away at Dortmund in February.
Bremen have recouped more points from losing positions than any other team in the league (17) and have already enjoyed a league-high five comeback wins this term.
Hannover have scored a league-high 53.3% (16 out of 30) of their league goals following set-pieces. Five of the Reds‘ last seven goals have come from dead-ball situations.
Christian Pander is Hannover's best provider having already recorded a career-high six assists this term.
Winter signing Mame Diouf has scored three and assisted two in his seven games for Hannover in all competitions. No other 96 player has recorded that many scorer points since the turn of the year.
Claudio Pizarro has been directly involved in 57% of Werder's 37 league goals this term and has netted five goals in his five BL appearances for Werder against Hannover.
1. FC Köln v Hertha BSC
Hertha have won six of their last eight league encounters with the Billygaots (L2).Köln have lost their last three BL home games against the Berlin-based side.
Only Hertha and Kaiserslautern (three points each) have picked up fewer points since the turn of the year than Köln (four).
Stale Solbakken's men have gone four BL home games without a win and have lost the last three at RheinEnergieStadion.
Hertha are winless in six BL games on the road and have lost the last three away from Olympiastadion.
Only Köln (204) have attempted fewer shots than the Berlin-based side (258) this term.
Additionally, Köln have allowed their opponents more shots than any other team (392), while Hertha have conceded the third-most this term (356).
Hertha have failed to score more than one goal in any of their last 10 BL games, while Köln have gone nine league games without scoring two or more.
Lukas Podolski has netted six goals in 12 BL appearances against Hertha, more than he has scored against any other side in the German top flight.
New Hertha manager Otto Rehhagel has lost more games against Köln than against any other side in the German top flight (19), but is currently unbeaten in seven games against the Billygoats (W3, D4).
1. FSV Mainz 05 v 1. FC Nürnberg
This season's reverse meeting between these two sides ended in a 3-3 draw and saw Nürnberg drop a two-goal lead for the first time in the last two-and-a-half years.Mainz have won their last five league home games against FCN, leading at half-time in each of these five games.
Nürnberg's last win away at Mainz came over seven years ago when FCN beat FSV 1-0 on the road in the two sides‘ first-ever BL encounter.
After a run of five consecutive home defeats Thomas Tuchel's men are now unbeaten in six games at the Coface Arena (W4, D2).
Nürnberg have won their last three games by a margin of one goal.
No team has conceded fewer goals since the turn of the year than Nürnberg (four like title contenders Dortmund and Gladbach).
Mainz have netted a total of four goals inside the first seven minutes in their last three league games.
FCN have kept five clean sheets in their last eight BL games and have only shipped one first-half goal during that period.
Since his return to Mainz in January Mohamed Zidan has scored in each of his five appearances for FSV. It is the first time the Egyptian striker has netted in five consecutive BL games.
Alexander Esswein has scored three and assisted two of Nürnberg's six league goals in 2012. FCN have won all five league games in which Esswein has been involved in a goal this term.
Borussia Mönchengladbach v SC Freiburg
Freiburg have only won one of their 10 BL encounters at Gladbach (D4, L5) when they beat the Foals 2-1 on the road in April 1995.Freiburg's 2-1 win over Gladbach in May 1999 made the Foals‘ first relegation from the Bundesliga official.
This game will see the team with the best defensive record (Gladbach, 15 goals conceded) take on the team with the worst record (Freiburg, 52 goals conceded).
SCF have lost each of their last four BL games on the road which means that new Freiburg manager Christian Streich is still waiting to record his first point away from home.
Gladbach have only conceded more than once in one of their last 34 BL games when they drew 2-2 with Leverkusen in mid-October.
Gladbach's last eight defeats in the Bundesliga have all come by a score-line of 0-1, a first for any team in BL history.
Mönchengladbach could suffer their 500th defeat in the German top flight, while their opponents Freiburg could lose their 200th game in the Bundesliga.
The Foals haven't conceded a first-half goal in any of their last nine BL games, but have themselves netted 10 before the break during that period.
Juan Arango and Marco Reus have both been directly involved in a joint league-high 125 shots this term.
In terms of saves-to-shots ratio this match will see the best keeper (Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 84%) take on the worst goal-keeper in the league (Oliver Baumann, 60%).
FC Schalke 04 v Hamburger SV
Only against Bochum have Schalke enjoyed as many wins in the Bundesliga as against Hambrug (32).Additionally, S04 have scored more goals against HSV than against any other side in the German top flight (119).
Hamburg (nine) have only suffered one defeat more than Schalke (eight) so far this term, but have chalked up 17 points fewer than the Royal Blues.
After 19 games Schalke were level on points with then league-leaders Bayern, but the Royal Blues have only registered four points from their last five games and now find themselves 11 points behind table-toppers Dortmund in fourth place.
After their 4-0 home defeat against Stuttgart last weekend Hamburg's cushion over the teams in the relegation zone has been reduced to five points.
Since Huub Stevens began his second stint as Schalke manager S04 have won six of their eight BL home games (D1, L1).
Hamburg are unbeaten in their last eight BL games on the road (W4, D4).
Schalke have already netted 35 second-half goals this term, six more than any other team in the league.
The Royal Blues have scored a league-high 12 goals following crosses, while their opponents Hamburg have recorded the second-fewest goals from crosses (three) this term.
Schalke have netted more headed goals than any other team (12), while only Augsburg (11) have conceded more goals from headers than HSV (10).
VfB Stuttgart v 1. FC Kaiserslautern
Stuttgart have scored more goals against Lautern than against any other team in the German top flight (158).The Swabians have only suffered one defeat in their last seven league encounters with FCK (W3, D3).
Stuttgart will feature in a Friday night game for the sixth time this season - more often than any other side in the league. VfB have lost three and won two of their previous five matches on a Friday, while FCK have lost both their matches on that day of the week this term (including a 2-0 defeat in this season's first meeting with Stuttgart).
Lautern are winless in 14 BL games (D8, L6). Only once in their BL history have the Red Devils had to endure a longer winless run (16 games in 1967/68).
Stuttgart have scored more goals since the turn of the year than any other team in the league (18).
Only two teams have ever scored fewer goals after 24 games of a BL season than Lautern have this term (16) - Tasmania in 1965/66 (10 goals) and Köln in 2001/02 (11 goals).
Only Bayern (18) have netted more goals from set-pieces than Stuttgart (17). The Swabians have also conceded the fourth-most goals following dead-ball situations (16), though with four of the last five goals shipped coming from corners.
VfB striker Martin Harnik has netted eight goals in his last five league appearances and has hence scored more goals since the turn of the year than any other player in the league (no other player has netted more than five goals in 2012).
FCK manager Marco Kurz was born in Stuttgart and made his first appearance in professional football for VfB Stuttgart when he was subbed on in a BL match against his current club Kaiserslautern in March 1990.
Lautern midfielder Christian Tiffert plied his trade with Stuttgart between 2000 and 2006, while Stuttgart's Tamas Hajnal spent a season with Lautern (2006/07).
VfL Wolfsburg v Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Wolfsburg have beaten Bayer nine times in the Bundesliga with all those wins coming in Wolfsburg. The Wolves have lost their last two BL home games against Leverkusen, though.Leverkusen have won their last five league encounters with Wolfsburg.
The Wolves have only lost one of their last seven games at the VW Arena (W4, D2). They have picked up 23 of the 28 points they have chalked up so far this term on home soil.
Leverkusen have won three consecutive BL games for the first time under the tenure of Robin Dutt.
Wolfsburg have only registered two points more after 24 games this term (28) than at the same point last season when they finished 15th and avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth.
Bayer have scored at least twice in nine of their last 13 BL games.
Wolfsburg have only netted more than once in one of their last nine league fixtures and have only scored a total of seven goals during that period.
Bayer striker Stefan Kießling has netted seven goals in 13 league appearances against Wolfsburg - only against Stuttgart has he scored more goals in the German top flight (10).
Leverkusen skipper Simon Rolfes has netted braces in Bayer's last two visits to Wolfsburg. Only against Cottbus has the German international scored as many goals in the Bundesliga as against the Wolves (four).
VfL midfielder Josue picked up his fifth booking of the season in last week's goalles draw at Kaiserslautern and will hence miss the game agaisnt Leverkusen due to suspension.
