Hertha BSC - Werder Bremen
Bremen have won eight of their last nine league encounters with Hertha (L1), including the last three.The Berlin-based side have suffered more defeats against Werder than against any other team in the Bundesliga (31).
Hertha is the only team in the top-three tiers of German football to have lost every game in 2012. Hertha have also scored fewer goals (one) and conceded more (14) than any other team in the Bundesliga since the turn of the year. In total, Otto Rehhagel's men have gone 12 BL games without a win (D4, L8).
Berlin have suffered six consecutive defeats in the league. The last team to lose the first six games of the second half of the season was Hannover in 2009-10. The Reds actually lost the first seven games after the turn of the year back then, but managed to avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth finishing the campaign in 15th place.
Hertha have failed to score in any of their last four league games, but have never before gone five BL games without finding the back of the net.
Bremen have already hit the woodwork a league-high 15 times this season. Werder's Swedish striker Markus Rosenberg alone has hit the woodwork six times - more often than any other player and more often than the whole squads of seven of the 18 BL teams this term.
Hertha manager Otto Rehhagel will return to the Olympiastadion as an employee of the Old Lady for the first time in over 47 years. The last time Rehhagel represented Hertha in a BL game at Olympiastadion was still during his playing days and came exactly 17,101 days ago in May 1965, when he featured for Hertha in a 1-1 draw against Borussia Neunkirchen.
Rehhagel managed today's opponent Werder between April 1981 and June 1995 and won two league titles, two German Cups and the Cup Winners' Cup with Bremen. His counterpart Thomas Schaaf made 261 of his 262 BL appearances under his tutelage.
Werder players Philipp Bargfrede (23) and Predrag Stefanovic (21) both celebrate their birthday on the day of the game. There will be no reason to celebrate for Hertha midfielders Peter Niemeyer and Andreas Ottl or for Werder skipper Clemens Fritz who will all miss the game due to suspension.
Hertha's Brazilian attacking midfielder Raffael is set to make his 100th BL appearance while his Colombian teammate Adrian Ramos could feature in his 50th BL game.
Borussia Dortmund - 1. FSV Mainz 05
All of Dortmund's last four BL home games against Mainz have ended in a draw. Against no other current BL side have the reigning champions gone that long without a win on home soil.Borussia have never lost a home game against FSV in the German top flight, though (W1, D4).
Borussia have registered their second-best ever points haul after 23 games in the Bundesliga (52 points) - the only campaign in which they had accrued more points after the same number of games was last season when Jürgen Klopp's men had won three points more than this term.
With their 3-1 win over Hannover last weekend Dortmund equalled the club record of seven straight wins in the top flight - a feat they have achieved three times before and last managed in late 2010. The last time Borussia dropped points in a league game came back in December when relegation-battlers Kaiserslautern held the champions to a 1-1 draw.
The Yellow Blacks are unbeaten in 17 league games (W14, D3) - currently by far the longest run of its kind in the Bundesliga. The champions' last league defeat came in mid-September when they lost 2-1 away at Hannover.
Mainz have gone 10 BL away games without a three-point haul (D7, L3). Their only win away from Coface Arena this term came in their first away game of the campaign when they won 2-1 at Freiburg. If they fail to win at Signal Iduna Park they would equal their negative club record of 11 consecutive winless away games set in 2004-05.
Robert Lewandowski is Dortmund's most prolific goal scorer in 31 years. 23 games into the season the Polish striker has already netted 16 goals. The last BVB player to match that haul was Manfred Burgsmüller, who had scored 19 goals after the same number of games back in 1980-81.
Mohamed Zidan has netted four goals in four games since his return to Mainz in January. The former BVB player also managed to score four goals in his first four games on his last return to FSV (The Egyptian is in his third stint with Mainz). The last time he rejoined the club he added to the aforementioned run by scoring a brace in his fifth game after his return.
Dortmund's first-choice goal-keeper Roman Weidenfeller is set to make his 250th BL appearance.
This game will see the only two gaffers who managed Mainz in the German top flight face each other. In fact, current FSV manager Thomas Tuchel (1.45) can boast a better points-per-game average than his predecessor Jürgen Klopp (1.13). If Dortmund beat Mainz, Jürgen Klopp would record his 100th win as manager in the German top flight.
SC Freiburg - FC Schalke 04
Freiburg have only won one of their last eight league encounters with Schalke (D2, L5) when they beat the Royal Blues 1-0 on the road in August 2008.Freiburg have only enjoyed more wins over Kaiserslautern (10) in the Bundesliga than over Schalke (nine), though. Additionally, SCF have scored more goals against S04 than against any other team in the top flight (34).
New SCF manager Christian Streich has picked up all five points he has so far won with Freiburg at home. SCF have gone three home games without defeat for the first time in over a year.
In total, Freiburg have only enjoyed one win in their last 11 league games, though (D5, L5) when they beat fellow relegation-battlers Augsburg 1-0 back in January.
After 19 games Schalke were still level on points with then league-leaders Bayern, but the Royal Blues have only registered four points from their last four games and now find themselves eight points behind table-toppers Dortmund in fourth place.
S04 have only kept one clean sheet in their last 14 BL games away from Veltins Arena and have failed to shut their opponents out in any of their last six on the road.
Freiburg currently have the worst defensive record in the Bundesliga (51 goals conceded) and have already shipped one goal more this term than in the whole of last season.
Goals are all but guaranteed: Only Schalke's BL games (80) have seen more goals than Freiburg's this term (79).
Schalke have netted a joint league-high eight goals on the counter, while Freiburg have conceded more goals following opposition counter-attacks than any other team in the league (10).
S04 striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar failed to get his name on the score sheet in Schalke's 2-0 defeat at Bayern last weekend, but has already netted 33 goals in 35 games in all competitions in 2011-12 - more than any other BL player this term.
Hamburger SV - VfB Stuttgart
Only against record champions Bayern (52) have Stuttgart suffered more defeats in the German top flight than against Hamburg (41).If Hamburg beat Stuttgart, they would pick up their 42nd victory over the Swabians in the Bundesliga - against no other team have the Redshorts won as many top-flight games (they have also won 41 against Frankfurt).
This will be the third meeting of the two sides this term. HSV won this season's first encounter with Stuttgart when they came back from 1-0 down to beat VfB 2-1 on the road. Back then it was the Redshorts' first win of the season and their first game after the sacking of former manager Michael Oenning.
However the Swabians avenged that defeat by eliminating the Redshorts from the German Cup when they beat Hamburg 2-1 in the Round of 16 in December and inflicted the first defeat on new HSV manager Thorsten Fink who had previously gone nine games unbeaten in all competitions after having taking charge of HSV in October.
Thorsten Fink's men have picked up more points on the road (16) than in front of their home crowd (11) and have gone four home games without a win.
Stuttgart, on the other hand, have gone seven league away games without picking up all three points (D2, L5). Only Mainz and Wolfsburg (10 games each) have currently gone longer without an away win.
Khalid Boulahrouz plied his trade with Hamburg between 2004 and 2006 (52 BL appearances, one goal). The defender joined Stuttgart in 2008.
Martin Harnik has scored more goals than any other player since the turn of the year and has netted as many as the whole HSV squad have chalked up during that period (seven).
Only three Austrian players have netted more goals in a single BL season than Martin Harnik has scored this term (13). The VfB striker only needs two more to equal the best-ever goal yield by an Austrian player (Andreas Herzog) in the German top flight.
Serdar Tasci could make his 150th BL appearance, while his Ivorian teammate Artur Boka is set to feature in his 100th game in the top tier of German football.
Hannover 96 - FC Augsburg
These two sides have previously only met in three competitive games and all of these three encounters have ended in draws (2-2, 1-1, 0-0).Gladbach and Hannover are the only two sides in the league yet to lose a home game this term. The Reds have lost none of their last 12 BL home games (W7, D5) and could equal the club record for the most consecutive unbeaten home games in the top flight set in 1967-68 if they avoid defeat against Augsburg.
FCA enjoyed their biggest-ever BL win when they beat Hertha 3-0 last weekend and now find themselves outside the relegation zone for the first time since August.
Jos Luhukay's men have only taken two out of the available 21 points from their last seven games on the road and have only won one of their 12 BL away games this term (D4, L7).
13 different players have put their names on the score sheet for Augsburg - only leaders Dortmund have had goals from more different players (14) this campaign.
Thorsten Oehrl scored his first brace in the Bundesliga in Augsburg's 3-0 win over Hertha last week. The FCA striker allowed less than 100 seconds to elapse between his two goals - the fastest brace netted by any player in the Bundesliga this term.
Mame Diouf, who joined Hannover from Manchester United in January, has already scored two and assisted two in his so far six games in all competitions for the Reds. No other 96 player has registered as many "scorer points" since the turn of the year.
FCA gaffer Jos Luhukay oversaw his first-ever BL game as manager against Hannover. In November 2003 the Dutchman was caretaker manager at Köln following the sacking of Friedhelm Funkel and lost his first and only game in charge of the Billygoats 2-1 against Hannover.
Christian Pander is set to make his 100th BL appearance. With five assists to his name Pander is Hannover's best provider.
Having won 69.0% of his challenges Gibril Sankoh is currently the best duellist in the league. His teammate Sebatian Langkamp (68.7% duel success) is a close second in that ranking.
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - 1. FC Köln
Hoffenheim will host Köln for the second time this season. The Billygoats lost their first encounter in Sinsheim this term when they were beaten 2-1 by 1899 in the Second Round of the German Cup.All of Hoffenheim's last six league home games have seen them share the spoils. If they draw with Köln they would equal the all-time BL record for the most consecutive draws at home set by Saarbrücken in 1977-78 and Köln in 1991-92.
Additionally, 1899 are unbeaten in nine league games on home soil (W2, D7) and could equal the club record of 10 consecutive unbeaten home games set in 2008-09.
Köln have lost six and won only one of their last seven league games.
Only three times in BL history had Köln accrued fewer points after 23 games than they have this term (24). Whenever the Billygoats had won fewer than 24 points after 23 games, they were relegated at the end of the season.
Köln have already conceded 45 goals this term - only in 1997-98 (50) and 2005-06 (50) had they shipped more goals after 23 games.
The Billygoats have failed to score more than one goal in any of their last eight league games. In eight of the previous 15 BL games they had netted at least twice.
Köln and Hoffenheim have both only scored two headed goals this term - fewer than any other team in the Bundesliga.
The Billygoats have contested the fewest (2566), Hoffenheim the most duels (3336) in the Bundesliga this season
1899 striker Srdjan Lakic netted his first two goals in the Bundesliga against Köln, but is yet to open his account in top flight this season.
1. FC Kaiserslautern - VfL Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg have won none of their 11 league outings at Kaiserslautern (D5, L6).The Wolves won this season's first meeting with FCK 1-0 courtesy of a Ashkan Dejagah goal despite being reduced to 10 men shortly before half time.
The Wolves have suffered more defeats than Lautern this term, but have won nine points more than the Red Devils.
Lautern suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when they lost 4-0 away at Mainz last weekend and have now gone 13 league games without a win (D7, L6).
The Wolves have only won one of their last five BL games (D1, L3).
The Red Devils have only scored 16 goals after 23 games - the worst goals haul of any team in the top-three tiers of German football this season.
Wolfsburg have picked up a league-low four points from their so far 11 away games this term.
Lautern, on the other hand, have won none of their last six games at Betzenberg (D3, L3) and have netted a league-low eight goals at home this season.
The Wolves have lost nine and won none of their last 10 BL games on the road.
Patrick Helmes, who turned 28 two days before the match, made his first appearance since October in the Wolves' 2-1 defeat against Hoffenheim last weekend. The VfL striker netted the consolation goal for Wolfsburg in that game - it was his first strike since the opening day of the season.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen - FC Bayern München
Bayern are unbeaten in 14 BL games against Leverkusen (W11, D3). The last time they lost to Bayer in the league was back in August 2004 when they were beaten by B04 4-1 on the road.Leverkusen's last win over Bayern came not that long ago, though. In March 2009 Leverkusen beat FCB 4-2 in the quarter-finals of the German Cup and eliminated the record champions from the competition.
Robin Dutt's men have enjoyed back-to-back wins in the league, but have so far not managed to win three consecutive BL games this term.
The last two meetings between these two sides at BayArena both ended in a 1-1 draw.
Leverkusen have won two and drawn one of their last three league games at BayArena, but have only kept one clean sheet in their last nine on home soil.
Bayern have gone five league games without defeat (W3, D2), keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Bayer manager Robin Dutt has lost all his five league encounters with Bayern and has only taken one point from the five BL meetings with his counterpart Jupp Heynckes.
FCB gaffer Jupp Heynckes managed Leverkusen between 2009 and 2011. Of all Bayer managers to have been in charge of the club for at least 10 games, he still boasts the second-best points-per-game average (1.87) - only current Club Brugge manager Christoph Daum has on average won more points per game with B04 in the German top flight (1.89).
Franck Ribery netted both of Bayern's goals in the record champion's 2-0 home win over Schalke last weekend. The Frenchman has already registered 10 goals and seven assists this term. The FCB winger has so far never chalked up more than 11 goals and 18 "scorer points" (goals + assists) in a single BL season.
B04 midfielder Lars Bender netted his first brace in the Bundesliga in Bayer's 2-0 win at Köln last week. The German international has now scored four goals this term - more than he netted in any of his previous two seasons in the Bundesliga.
1. FC Nürnberg - Borussia Mönchengladbach
Nürnberg have won more games against Gladbach than against any other team in the German top flight (20).FCN have enjoyed 16 wins in their so far 26 BL home games against the Foals (D4, L6).
Dieter Hecking's men have gone three games without defeat (W2, D1) - a feat they only achieved for the second time this season. Their first run of three unbeaten games this term was ended by a 1-0 defeat away at Gladbach in September.
Borussia are unbeaten in seven games (W5, D2), keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Nürnberg have failed to score in eight of their last nine BL fixtures on a Sunday (W1, D3, L5), while Gladbach have won six of their last seven on that day of the week (L1), conceding only three goals in the process.
Nürnberg have kept four clean sheets in their last seven league games and have only conceded one first-half goal during that period.
Only in one of their last 33 league games have the Foals conceded more than one goal.
Nürnberg and Gladbach have both only conceded 91 shots on target - only title candidates Bayern (53) and Dortmund (75) have allowed their opponents fewer shots on target this term. Nürnberg (32) have shipped more than twice as many goals as Gladbach 14), though.
After a run of only one goal in 26 league games Foals striker Mike Hanke has now scored six goals in his last nine BL appearances. Against no team has the 28-year-old netted more goals in the Bundesliga than against Nürnberg (four).
Roman Neustädter is set to make his 50th BL appearance. He scored his first and so far only BL goal in Gladbach's 1-0 win at Nürnberg in January 2011.
