After four weeks of spectacular footballing action, the Bundesliga juggernaut moves into gameweek 30, which will be headlined by the titanic clash between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen at the Bay Arena.
The defending champions, who currently have a seven-point lead at the top of the table, will pay a visit to fifth-placed Leverkusen on Saturday night.
Elsewhere, second-placed Borussia Dortmund will play hosts to high-flying Hertha Berlin in what will be a tricky match for both teams, who are in dire need of points heading into the final stretch of the season.
That, and much more is in store for us in gameweek 30 of the Bundesliga. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the fixtures and predictions for this week’s round of matches.
SC Freiburg vs Borussia Monchengladbach (Prediction: 0-2)
For the second week in a row, SC Freiburg will kick off the action at their home, only they will welcome Marco Rose’s Borussia Monchengladbach to the Schwarzwald Stadion, this time around.
After last week’s defeat at the hands of Leverkusen, the chances of the home side getting anything from this game are looking bleak, given how strong a team Gladbach are.
In order to get anything out of the match, Freiburg will have to stop Alassane Plea and Marcus Thuram, both of whom have been in good form lately.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich (Prediction: 2-3)
Talking about the marquee fixture in Bundesliga this week, Peter Bosz’s men will welcome the league leaders to the Bay Arena on Saturday, in a crucial game for both sides.
Leverkusen are level on points which Monchengladbach, so any slip-ups at home will give Marco Rose’s men the upper hand in the race for Champions League qualification.
For Bayern Munich, it’s all about keeping the momentum going. The Bavarians thrashed Dusseldorf 5-0 last time out and will be confident of grabbing all three points from this week’s game as well.
RB Leipzig vs Paderborn (Prediction: 3-0)
Third-placed RB Leipzig will host Paderborn, who remain rooted to the foot of the table.
For the visitors, there’s little more than pride at stake. Although numerically the minnows can still avoid relegation, judging by their current form, it seems only a miracle can now save Paderborn from relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.
On the other hand, Julian Nagelsmann’s men are in good form and will hope to take advantage of any potential slip-ups from the top two sides.
Dusseldorf vs Hoffenheim (Prediction: 1-1)
Relegation-threatened Dusseldorf will be hoping to banish their last week’s blues against Hoffenheim, who have been on the rise in the past few weeks.
The home side are currently 16th on the table and could jump out of the relegation places with a win on Saturday if results elsewhere go in their favour.
Meanwhile, Hoffenheim are also embroiled in a race for European places, and any points dropped on the road could be the difference between their presence or absence in next season’s Europa League.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Mainz (Prediction: 2-1)
Eleventh-placed Frankfurt will host Mainz on gameweek 30 in the battle of two mid-table clubs.
The Eagles defeated Werder Bremen on Thursday to extend their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga to three games..
Elsewhere, Mainz, who are currently 15th on the table and are winless in their last five games, could slip into relegation places if they fail to win on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund vs Hertha Berlin (Prediction 3-1)
The last match of Saturday in gameweek 30 will see Hertha Berlin travel to the Signal Iduna Park to take on Dortmund.
The Olympiastadion outfit have been on a good run lately, and so are Dortmund, who barring their 0-1 loss to Bayern, have won all their Bundesliga games since 8th February.
All this translates that the game at Westfalenstadion should be a cracking one, on paper at least.
Werder Bremen vs Wolfsburg (Prediction: 1-1)
Both Bremen and Wolfsburg have had tumultuous fortunes lately. The hosts for Sunday’s game were beaten by a struggling Frankfurt side in midweek, and as a result, they lost the chance to move above Dusseldorf out of the relegation places.
Wolfsburg, on the other hand, are sixth on the table and are being pushed all the way by Hoffenheim for Europa League berths.
For Bremen, every game from now onwards will be do or die, starting from Sunday, after all, their survival is at stake.
Union Berlin vs Schalke (Prediction: 2-1)
David Wagner’s men have lost all four games since the league’s restart, but they will be hoping for an easier outing against Union Berlin, who are 14th in the standings and are struggling to stay up in the Bundesliga.
The hosts are in dire need of points, and they couldn’t have asked for a better team than Schalke right now. Luckily for the Royal Blues, they are still in 10th place, so relegation isn’t a worry, but judging by their current form, it has been a season to forget altogether.
Augsburg vs FC Köln (Prediction: 1-2)
Augsburg will welcome FC Köln to the WWK Arena in the final match of gameweek 30. Augsburg are currently just two spots above the relegation places, while FC Köln are just three points and a place ahead of them.
Markus Gisdol has overseen back-to-back losses against Leipzig and Hoffenheim in the past couple of weeks, but on Sunday his team will have a chance to pick up all three points against the hosts.
Whoever, out of FC Köln and Augsburg win this game, will take a major step towards staying up in the Bundesliga.
All stats courtesy: Bundesliga.com