What to watch for on Bundesliga Matchday 7
October 13, 2016
Champions Bayern were given a bloody nose by Cologne last time out, being pegged back to 1-1 at home when the game looked to be in the bag. It was the first points they have dropped in the Bundesliga under Carlo Ancelotti and he will not accept any repeat at Frankfurt on Saturday.
The Champions League reverse at Atletico Madrid will also be on the Italian's mind though and captain Philipp Lahm has already tried to rally the troops.
"We must improve our aggressiveness because that has been our trademark in the past few years," Lahm said. That aim will not be helped by Franck Ribery, arguably Bayern's form player this term, being ruled out but Arjen Robben is fit.
A few weeks ago Bayern would have been even more worried about traveling to Frankfurt. Nico Kovac's side had a surprisingly strong start to the season but the 1-0 defeat at Freiburg on Matchday 6 was lackluster at best.
Weinzierl returns home
Given he visits ex-club Augsburg on Saturday, the Schalke boss will be especially glad he finally got his first points of the season in the 4-0 thrashing of Borussia Mönchengladbach last time out.
Any abuse he gets from the Augsburg stands may now be a little less, and in any case the fans there know how much he did for the club so may have given him an easy ride anyway.
Schalke will suddenly be on a high while Augsburg's inconsistency is so often their downfall. But they will really want to play well against Weinzierl. Any result is possible.
Nouri needs a new start
Having been handed the coach's job at Werder Bremen until May, Alexander Nouri needs to follow up the appointment with a statement of intent at home to Leverkusen in Saturday's late game.
A win and a draw from his three games in charge as interim boss showed improvement if not a stellar change.
He will be hampered by talismanic striker Claudio Pizarro still being ruled out through injury with no time set on his return.
That news might depress some in the camp who were waiting for the Peruvian to offer some much-needed sparkle.
As for Leverkusen, the international break came at the wrong time for Roger Schmidt's men. The fully deserved victory over Dortmund demonstrated real belief in what has been an up-and-down season otherwise.
Gisdol needs Gladbach like a hole in the head
After a terrible debut on the bench in the 2-0 defeat by Hertha for new Hamburg coach Markus Gisdol, the last thing he really wanted next was a trip to the Borussia Park to face a very wounded Mönchengladbach.
Andre Schubert's outfit capitulated against Schalke at the start of the month and they will do everything to return to an even keel.
Hamburg can expect a furious response from Gladbach on Saturday and whether their defence will be able to cope is doubtful, especially with captain and center back Johan Djourou ruled out with a torn thigh muscle.
Unkind Hamburg fans might say his absence is a blessing in disguise after his usual array of mishaps this term.
Time for Draxler to step up for club too
Julian Draxler netted the opener for Germany in the midweek win over Northern Ireland. Wolfsburg fans just wish he would do that sort of thing for them more often.
A match-winning display in Sunday's home game with surprise packages RB Leipzig would be a good place to start for Draxler, with new forward Mario Gomez failing to hit the net so far and a doubtful starter after missing the Germany games with a knock.
Wolfsburg are 13th while their promoted opponents are up in fifth. Logic says it should be the other way around and defeat for Wolfsburg on Sunday would leave coach Dieter Hecking dangerously exposed.
Matchday 7
Friday
Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Hertha Berlin
Saturday
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Hamburg (1530 CET)
Cologne vs. Ingolstadt
Augsburg vs. Schalke
Hoffenheim vs. Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Bayern Munich
Werder Bremen vs. Bayer Leverkusen (18.30 CET)
Sunday
Mainz vs. Darmstadt (15.30 CET)
Wolfsburg vs. RB Leipzig (17.30 CET)