Bundesliga matchday 16 preview: Stöger’s debut

It’s only two days since the last matchday of the Bundesliga and the next one is already around the corner. Since Sunday Borussia Dortmund has replaced Peter Bosz with Peter Stöger who only won three points in his 14 games at Köln – he could already get double that prior to the winter break with Dortmund.

Midweek action starts Tuesday at 6:30 with Wolfsburg v Leipzig. Both teams have been in topsy-turvy form lately but thanks to the other teams not winning, Leipzig are still 2nd even though they can’t catch Bayern anymore in this year. Wolfsburg are in the big pack of teams that got pulled down into the relegation fight thanks to both Bremen and Freiburg winning last weekend. This should be a clear case but it is the Bundesliga and Bayern are not involved so you never know.

Two hours later three more games are kicking off. They include Freiburg v Gladbach and HSV v Frankfurt but the game everyone will be looking at undoubtedly is Mainz v Dortmund. Dortmund have not won since mid-October and dropped down to 8th place now and are in a deep crisis both offensively and defensively. However, they are still in reaching distance of the Champions League places and if they win the next two games they should be in a decent spot. But it’s going to be hard to return to the Dortmund that people love in only a few days so a win against Mainz is absolutely paramount.

On Wednesday at 6:30 Hoffenheim travel to Stuttgart. Both teams’ form has been all over the place but this should be a pleasant football match to watch. Both teams want to play football and have very competent managers but due to their home form and the fact that they had two days rest more, Stuttgart are favoured in this one.

A team that has sneaked in just behind Hoffenheim is Augsburg (and they almost jumped to 4th on Sunday). In the later Wednesday games (8.30) they play away at Schalke. Schalke have drawn three games in a row but two of them were tough away games and in the 2-2 against Köln they just didn’t have that little amount of luck you sometimes need to win games. Both teams have similar records when it comes to goals scored and goals conceded and with a win they could pass Schalke in the league table. But to make this Hinrunde a really good one and to prove that they are not the old Schalke anymore, at least 4 points from the remaining two games are a realistic target. Also at the same time Bayern v Köln, Leverkusen v Bremen and Hertha v Hannover.