Schalke aim to knock off Leipzig

Super Schalke

Schalke have long since recovered from a tough start under the new regime of head coach Markus Weinzierl and sporting director Christian Heidel. They are one of the Bundesliga's hottest teams of late, having gone unbeaten in seven league games, five of which they have won. Like Leipzig, they are unbeaten in their last 12 games - but Schalke's run also includes German Cup and Europa League action. In Europe, Schalke have even won all five of their group-stage games so far.

Ralph Hasenhüttl will have the most prolific scorers in Leipzig's potent attack at his disposal, as Timo Werner and Emil Forsberg have both fully recovered from minor muscle ailments. However, one of the toughest backlines in the league could well have to do without defender Marvin Compper, who is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained a fortnight ago.

For their part, Schalke are hoping to provide Leipzig and their fans with a new experience - suffering defeat in the Bundesliga. Weinzierl said at the press conference ahead of the game that the Royal Blues were confident they could get a result in Leipzig, if they play to their potential. He didn't give away what he may have up his sleeve, particularly how he was going to deal with one of the two highest-scoring attackers in the league.

Will Hamburg finally get their first win?

Hamburg travel south to Darmstadt still looking for their first win of the Bundesliga season. Markus Gisdol's men have managed to steady the ship a little bit, with a pair of 2-2 draws in their last two games. Those two points have been just enough to keep them from completely losing touch with the relegation-playoff spot, or even the safety of 15th. Gisdol is right to expect a tough game in southern Hesse and HSV could be helped by the return of Bosnian central defender Emir Spahic and Swedish defensive midfielder Albin Ekdal.

American striker Bobby Wood has served his ban for a blatant elbow during Hamburg's defeat in Cologne, but ahead of the game Gisdol declined to say whether he would be in his starting 11 or not.

Darmstadt are looking to prove the pundits wrong for a second year running and the fact that they have gathered all of their eight points at their Böllenfalltor stadium is a reason not to be too pessimistic. However, after getting off to a decent start towards their goal of avoiding the drop, Darmstadt have lost their last five - including a German Cup game against fourth-tier side Walldorf last month.

The underperforming Prussians

Neither of the two teams nicknamed Borussia (Latin for Prussia) have been enjoying the success they had hoped going into the 2016/17 season, and while Dortmund followed up their win in Der Klassiker with a loss in Frankfurt, the rollercoaster form curve of Thomas Tuchel's men is generally pointing upwards. Having said that, he really wasn't amused by his team's performance in Germany's banking capital one week ago.

It's a very different story for Mönchengladbach, who have gone seven league matches without a win. This was the first fixture of last season and Gladbach's 4-0 defeat set off a series of events that led to then head coach Lucien Favre throwing in the towel. His replacement, Andre Schubert seems safe for now - but for how long?

Bundesliga Matchday 13

Friday (20:30 CET)

Mainz - Bayern

Saturday

Dortmund - Mönchengladbach (15:30)

Leverkusen - Freiburg

Wolfsburg  - Hertha Berlin

Bremen - Ingolstadt

Hoffenheim - Cologne

Leipzig - Schalke (18:30)

Sunday

Darmstadt - Hamburg (15:30)

Augsburg - Frankfurt (17:30)