Online Reporter
WITH leaders Bayern Munich nine points clear and on track for another German Bundesliga football title, the chasing pack are battling it out for a top-four berth and a Champions League spot.
Bayern are in the midst of the second-best start in league history, just two points behind their own record from 2015-16 after dropping just four points in 14 games.
This weekend presents the chasers with a chance to strike an early blow in the fight for Champions League duty next season, with four of the Bundesliga’s top six facing off.
Today’s match of the day features second-placed RB Leipzig hosting fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
Hours earlier, fifth-placed Hoffenheim travel to Stuttgart, who sit a point back in sixth.
Leipzig could fall out of the top four with defeat, with just five points separating second from seventh in the table.
Leipzig coach Ole Werner has a young squad with notable quality but who have struggled for consistency.
The star of the season so far, teenage forward Yan Diomande, misses out on Africa Cup of Nations duty, while Antonio Nusa, Johan Bakayoko, Assan Ouedraogo and long-term absentee Benjamin Henrichs are all also sidelined.
Werner said today’s game is “a real challenge for us to end the year”.
Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness said their Hoffenheim clash was “exactly the game we need right now”.
“It’s a home game to close out the year against a strong team who is ahead of us in the table,” he added.
“We want to play this match with full power and give our all to win it.”
Third-placed Borussia Dortmund will have a chance to fire an early shot across the bows when they hosted resurgent Borussia Moenchengladbach last night.
FIXTURES (4:30pm unless stated)
Today: Stuttgart v Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg v Freiburg, Augsburg v Werder Bremen, Hamburg v Eintracht Frankfurt, Cologne v Union Berlin, RB Leipzig v Bayer Leverkusen (7:30pm)
Tomorrow: Mainz v St Pauli, Heidenheim v Bayern Munich (6:30pm). — AFP Sport.
