Bundesliga Matchday 5 Preview: Bayern Munich prepare for Bavarian derby; Borussia Dortmund host Nurnberg

The Hard Tackle presents a lowdown of Matchday 5 of Bundesliga, including matches featuring Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and much more.

Bundesliga will follow Die Englische Woche for the first time this season as Matchday 5 of the 2018-19 campaign gets underway this Tuesday. All eyes will be on the Bavarian derby when league leaders Bayern Munich lock horns with FC Augsburg on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, high-flying Hertha Berlin will entertain Werder Bremen, boosted after a weekend win over Augsburg while struggling Hannover 96, in the lookout for their first win of the campaign, will host TSG Hoffenheim.

Elsewhere, FC Schalke 04 will look to finally put their miserable start to the season past them when they travel to Freiburg while Bayer Leverkusen are expected to continue their winning form as they entertain Fortuna Dusseldorf.

On Wednesday evening, Borussia Dortmund will be keen to bounce back to winning ways when they host newly-promoted Nurnberg – one of the most historic rivalries in Bundesliga. VfL Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig will also be looking for a win this week, in their respective games against FSV Mainz and VfB Stuttgart before Eintracht Frankfurt wrap up the matchday travelling to Borussia Monchengladbach.

Werder Bremen vs Hertha Berlin

Hertha Berlin will be seeking their fourth win in five matches when they face Werder Bremen on Tuesday evening. The club from the capital have started the Bundesliga season on an excellent note, sitting second on the league table with three wins in four matches.

Head coach Pal Dardai will be hoping that the likes of Ondrej Duda, Javairo Dilrosun and Vedad Ibisevic will be able to maintain their form as all of them were excellent in the win over Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.

Werder Bremen, on the other hand, will be a tough nut to crack, especially after coming on the back of a hard-fought 3-2 win over FC Augsburg. Max Kruse will certainly be the target man for Die Grunweiss once again while Davy Klaassen will be the X-Factor. But, Bremen’s lack of defensive solidity might cause them a little discomfort against a sharp and clinical Hertha attack.

SC Freiburg vs FC Schalke 04

Freiburg versus Schalke should be one mouthwatering clash, largely because it will present Schalke with a great opportunity of registering their win of the campaign. Freiburg, usually an easy-breezy opponent for a club like Schalke, will be full of confidence after notching up a morale-boosting 3-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg.

The club from the Black Forest will be hoping that their attacking trio of Nils Petersen, Marco Terrazzino and Roland Sallai will be able to maintain their good form this week. Sallai, in particular, scored on his Bundesliga debut against Wolfsburg and will be Freiburg’s main weapon against a vulnerable Schalke defence.

As for the Royal Blues, coach Domenico Tedesco might make some changes, notably giving Breel Embolo a start ahead of Franco Di Santo. The Swiss international has looked promising in the past few matches and it will be interesting to see how he fares against a disciplined Freiburg defence.

FC Bayern vs FC Augsburg

Bayern Munich will look to maintain their perfect start to the season as they face FC Augsburg in the first Bavarian derby of the campaign. The German champions have won all of their competitive matches so far and are currently leading the table with 12 points from their first four matches this season. Thus, Die Roten are huge favourites to seal all three points in this fixture.

That being said, Augsburg definitely pack a punch, which was evident in their game against Bremen last weekend. The Bavarians came back from a 2-0 deficit through goals from Koo Ja-Cheol and Philipp Max before conceding an unfortunate winner later in the second half.

Goalkeeper Fabian Giefer will be keen not to replicate the same mistake against Bayern Munich this week, knowing the repercussions could be much more fatal.

Hannover 96 vs TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

Things could get scrappy when Hannover 96 host Hoffenheim on Tuesday evening. The club from the Lower Saxony are still without a win this season and are currently lavishing at the bottom end of the table with just two points from four matches.

Hoffenheim haven’t been great either, mustering only four points from four games, although a satisfying draw against Borussia Dortmund could lift their confidence ahead of the game. Joelinton and Leonardo Bittencourt will be the two players Hannover need to be wary of with Joelinton, in particular, coming on the back of an excellent performance against the Black and Yellows.

As for Hannover, they have lacked the attacking impetus this season and they need their attackers to start firing soon enough if they are to achieve success this campaign.

Borussia Dortmund vs 1. FC Nurnberg

Borussia Dortmund will aim to get back to winning ways after playing out a disappointing draw with Hoffenheim in their last game. The Black and Yellows have been inconsistent under new coach Lucien Favre this season and more often than not, they have found it difficult to deceive their opponents with their attacking proficiency.

And we could expect a lot more of the same when they host Nurnberg on Wednesday.

As far as team news is concerned, Dortmund will likely miss out on Paco Alcacer once again after the Spaniard picked up a knock in his debut. Thus, Marco Reus could be once again deployed as the false nine alongside Christian Pulisic and most likely, Maximilian Philipp in attack.

Defender Abdou Diallo will be suspended, however, after picking up a red card against Hoffenheim and should be replaced by Omer Toprak, who is yet to make a Bundesliga appearance this season.

Nurnberg, on the other hand, will be shouldering their attacking responsibility on Mikael Ishak. Other than that, Der Klub will likely remain content with a draw by sitting deep and containing the pressure exerted by the Dortmund attack.

Borussia Monchengladbach vs Eintracht Frankfurt

In what promises to be one of the most exciting fixtures of Matchday 5 of Bundesliga, Borussia Monchengladbach will host Eintracht Frankfurt as they aim to register their third win of the campaign. The Foals, however, are coming on the back of a disappointing 4-2 defeat by Hertha Berlin this past weekend and will be desperate to build some momentum.

Eintracht played out a tedious draw with RB Leipzig in their last game, where Gelson Fernandes scored the opener before Leipzig equalised through Emil Forsberg in the second half. Coach Adi Hutter will be hoping for a much more disciplined outing, especially after being shown two red cards and conceding a penalty in their last three matches.

All eyes will be on the battle between Gladbach forward Alassane Plea and Eintracht’s Sebastien Haller. Both the former Ligue 1 strikers have started the season on a positive note, combining five goals between them so far this season.