In this new weekly feature, hosts of the Gegenpressing podcast Stefan Bienkowski and Manu Veth face off with their predictions for the forthcoming Bundesliga matchday fixtures. It’s three points for a correct score and one point for a correct result. Who will come out on top at the end of the season?
Stefan’s game of the week: Augsburg v Koln
It may not be the biggest game of the weekend in terms of viewing numbers or even fans attending, but I’m going to be keeping my eye on this clash in Bavaria with a huge amount of interest. Markus Weinzierl’s side have bounced in and out of the relegation zones this season but they’ve picked up some decent results in the second half of the season with impressive, defensive football. I suspect they may be able to do that again this weekend, but they’ll need to beat an in-form Koln team first. If they can get a result, that should tell us whether the Fuggerstädter will avoid the drop or not.
Manu’s game of the week: Dortmund v Bochum
My Topspiel of the week is the Revierderby, Borussia Dortmund against VfL Bochum. With Schalke in 2. Bundesliga, Bochum are Dortmund’s biggest local rival, and there was actually a time in Germany when Bochum against Schalke was a bigger derby than Dortmund against Schalke. Of course, nowadays many will forget that Bochum were very much a big part of Bundesliga folklore and had the nickname the Unabsteigbaren (the team that can’t be relegated), then in the 1990s they became a Fahrstuhlmannschaft (yo-yo team) before completely disappearing before returning to the Bundesliga this season where they have been a pleasant surprise this season. Expect a proper derby atmosphere at this game.
Stefan’s predictions:
Union Berlin 2-0 Greuther Furth
Dortmund 3-1 Bochum
Stuttgart 1-2 Wolfsburg
Mainz 1-2 Bayern Munich
Augsburg 1-0 Koln
Arminia Bielefeld 0-2 Hertha Berlin
Hoffenheim 2-3 Freiburg
Leverkusen 2-1 Eintracht Frankfurt
Gladbach 1-2 RB Leipzig
Manu’s predictions:
Union 2-0 Fürth
BVB 3-1 Bochum
Stuttgart 2-1 Wolfsburg
Mainz 2-0 Bayern
Augsburg 0-3 Köln
Bielefeld 0-2 Hertha
Hoffenheim 1-2 Freiburg
Leverkusen 1-0 Frankfurt
Gladbach 0-2 Leipzig
Scores after week three:
STEFAN: 15, MANU: 18
